This week’s ZUMO Performance of the Week goes to Regan Smith for her 58.26 at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Knoxville, Tennessee on Saturday. Smith started her 2020 on a good note as she put up really good swims at the Pro Series against some of her chief rivals.
She put up a best time in the 100 fly at 57.86 to finish second behind Amanda Kendall and ahead of Worlds finalist Kelsi Dahlia. Whether that is a future event for her remains to be seen, but she showed her versatility with that swim. She also was second in the 200 fly to push Worlds silver medalist Hali Flickinger for all she was worth, finishing second at 2:08.73.
But Smith’s best swim of the weekend perhaps came from the 58.2 she swam in the 100 back on night three of the meet. The time was faster than her previous in-season best when she swam a 58.45 at last year’s Counsilman Classic in June, a month before she lowered the world record in becoming the first woman to break 58 seconds with a 57.57 en route to yet another world record in the 4×100 medley relay for the United States.
Daiya Seto’s 200 fly from the FINA Champions Series in China was also considered for the ZUMO Performance of the Week but Swimming World ultimately went with Smith’s impressive in-season swim.
Smith, just 17, has been on fire the last six months, beginning with that 58.4 at the Counsilman Classic. She broke the world record in the 200 backstroke in the semi finals at the World Championships in breaking 2:04 for the first time at 2:03.35. Despite not having swum the 100 back in the meet, the coaches elected to lead her off the medley relay at night where she ended up breaking the world record with the aforementioned 57.5.
Since that meet, she has showed no signs of slowing down, despite taking a loss in December to good friend Phoebe Bacon of Nation’s Capital Swim Club in the 100 back at the US Open. Smith’s 58.2 this weekend is the fastest time anyone has swum outside of a championship meet all-time. It was also Smith’s second fastest time she ever swam in the event, which she did after swimming the 200 fly earlier in the session.
Congratulations to Regan Smith on winning the ZUMO Performance of the Week!
Previous ZUMO Performances of the Week
ZUMO Performance of the Week: Katsuhiro Matsumoto Breaks Japanese Record in SCM 400 Free
ZUMO Performance of the Week: Kate Douglass Splits 57.8 100 Fly in LCM
