Two-time Olympian Olivia Smoliga has decided to head West. After training in Georgia for the better part of a decade, Smoliga will train at Arizona State with Bob Bowman.
Smoliga had trained with Jack Bauerle at Bulldog Aquatics after swimming collegiately at Georgia and leading the Bulldogs to the NCAA championship.
She made the announcement on social media on Saturday.
“Yeeeaauh?Christmas training we out! Thank you to this crew for welcoming me. I’m so excited to be here,” Olivia Smoliga posted. “I really wanna thank @ugaswimdive for an indescribable 8 years as a collegiate athlete and post graduate. Thank you @jack.bauerle, Brian, Stef, Jerry, Harvey, Neil, Sean (and Dan for the diving well!!), for what I will remember as one of the most fulfilling and exciting rides of my life! I’m so grateful. Thank you to my whole Dawg family, you all have made me the person I am today. It’s forks up from here! Thank you @sundevilswimdive and @coach_bowman for taking me in. The vibe is high.”
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Smoliga will join other post-grad Olympians at Arizona State, including Allison Schmitt and Hali Flickinger.
Olivia Smoliga won Olympic gold in Rio in 2016 on the medley relay. She also qualified in the 100 backstroke and finished sixth. Five years later, she qualified for Tokyo on the 400 freestyle relay.
Smoliga won her first first long-course world championship in 2019. She won the 50 backstroke in 27.33, also winning the bronze medal in the 100 back. She also had a spectacular performance at short-course worlds in 2018, hauling in eight medals. It returned Smoliga to the world’s elite.