U.S. Nationals: Regan Smith Comfortably Tops 200 Fly; Lindsay Looney Makes It Sun Devil 1-2
Racing to secure her spot on the World Championships team in the 200 butterfly, Regan Smith hit the gas right away. She went out well under American-record pace, hitting the halfway point in 59.08. Smith was still just under the pace at the 150-meter mark, but she could not sustain that speed down the stretch. It did not matter, though, as the 21-year-old secured her spot on a fourth consecutive World Championships team — and when she finished, the scoreboard showed a thrilling surprise result.
Smith touched in 2:05.79, about two seconds off her own American record, while the second-place finisher was Lindsay Looney, an Arizona State swimmer who Smith has become close with during her first year training in Tempe, Ariz.
Alex Shackell, an Indianapolis-area teenager representing Carmel Swim Club, was in the runnerup spot for most of the race, but down the stretch, the race completely changed. Longhorn’s Dakota Luther was surging, and in lane one, Looney was making an unexpected push. In the end, Looney touched in 2:07.35 to secure her spot alongside Smith at next month’s Worlds in Fukuoka.
“I touched the wall, and I knew I died really bad on the last 50. I didn’t need to see my splits to know that it was a really rough last 50, so I was a little bummed, but the second I saw No. 2, all of that went away, and it was just about celebrating with my teammate and being really happy for her,” Smith said. “She’s had a tough season. She’s had some hip problems, and she’s worked through that like a champ, so it was just really awesome to share that with her.”
Luther was third in 2:07.86, followed by teammate Kelly Pash in 2:08.13. Shackell ended up fifth in 2:08.18. Emma Sticklen, another Texas swimmer, placed sixth in 2:08.28, just ahead of Hali Flickinger. Flickinger had represented the United States in the 200 fly at every major meet since the 2016 Olympics, but she will cede her place to younger Arizona State-trained swimmers this year. Long Island’s Tess Howley rounded out a fast field all around with an eighth-place time of 2:08.86.
This year has marked a huge turnaround for Smith in her first year training under coach Bob Bowman at Arizona State University. Smith turned professional and moved to Arizona State last fall hoping that Bowman’s training would provide the volume and intensity on which she thrived during her teenage years. Even throughout her in-season races, the positive results have been immediate and obvious.
When asked what is going right about her current training setup, Smith responded, “Everything. I think the biggest thing is I’m so happy. I love my teammates. I love Bob. I love being pushed so hard every day. I just feel like I’ve never worked so hard in my entire life. But while I’ve been working so hard, I’ve been having so much fun. That’s the most important thing. Why would I be doing it if I was hating it? And I’m just loving it. I think that’s the most important thing. I’m excited to go to practice every day, which is really fun. I can’t say that for my entire career.”
Smith has been among the world’s leading contenders in the 200 fly over the past few years. A sizzling finish in the Olympic final helped Smith get ahead of Flickinger to grab silver with a time of 2:05.30, at the time becoming the second-fastest American in history. She was fourth in the event at last year’s World Championships, but in the midst of her resurgent season, Smith has reached, surpassed and obliterated her previous best in the event.
At the Sun Devil Open earlier this month, Smith’s final tune-up meet before U.S. Nationals, she swam a time of 2:03.87 in the event, beating her best time by almost one-and-a-half seconds and breaking a 14-year-old suit-aided American record held by Mary Descenza. In the process, Smith made herself the slight favorite for gold in the event at the upcoming World Championships. Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh is the defending world champion in the event, but Smith’s best is more than eight tenths quicker than the world junior record of 2:04.70 that McIntosh set in late March.
Getting into 2:03-territory was an outcome that Smith did not expect, at least not so soon.
“I had no idea how it was going to go,” Smith said of her American-record-setting performance. “After going 2:08 in the 200 IM at that meet, I was confident that I was going to have a good 200 fly, but I was thinking that mean 2:05-something, that I’d be right on my best from the Olympics, so I was shocked with a 2:03. I was completely shocked. But that race was so painless. The last 50, I felt like a rocket, and it was just night-and-day from this race here. I felt great in that race, and in this race, I felt great through about 150.”
Looking ahead to racing McIntosh, Olympic gold medalist Zhang Yufei and the rest of the world’s elite in the 200 fly next month in Fukuoka, Smith knows she will need to collaborate with Bowman to make the adjustments necessary to show up when the world title is on the line. Her relationship with Bowman is such that Smith is fully confident they will collectively push the right buttons.
“He’s just an incredible coach,” Smith said. “What I respect about Bob is he doesn’t overcomplicate things. He keeps things very simple. It’s just show up, do the work I’ve given you and you’re going to see results. Show up, work hard. It’s as simple as that. He doesn’t waste a lot of time with other things, and I really respect that about him. Whenever anyone gets too inside their head and complicates things, you’re not going to see good results.”
I don’t think smith beats Macintosh at worlds