Jul 13, 2015 3 min read

Leah Smith of Mt. Lebanon captured two gold medals in swimming for the United States during the 2015 World University Games held in Gwangju City, Korea. The rising University of Virginia junior won the 400-meter freestyle and combined for the gold in the 4-by-200 free relay. She also finished fourth in the 200 free.

In the 400 free, Smith led from start to finish. After shattering the World University Games record with a 4:04.66 time in the prelims, the 19-year-old swimmer scored a 4:05.29 in the finals, held at the Nambu University Aquatic Center. Smith placed ahead of U.S. teammate Lindsay Vrooman (4:07.28) and Italy’s Martina De Memme (4:08.95). Smith’s prelim time of 4:04.66 was also the fourth-fastest mark in the world this year. She also bested Federica Pelligrini’s mark of 4:06.11 set in 2007.

For the gold medal-winning relay, Smith led off with a personal-best mark of 1:58.50. The time also enabled the U.S. to smash the World University Games record in 7:53.88.

During the 200 free race, Italy’s Martina De Memme out-touched Smith at the wall to grab the bronze medal with a 1:59.14 time. Smith finished fourth in 1:59.26. Shannon Vreeland of Team USA garnered the gold in the event with a 1:59.38 mark.

Smith is a veteran of international competition. Last summer, she won gold with the U.S. 4x200m free relay at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships in Gold Coast, Australia.

She is also coming off another sensational season at UVA. In fact, with her recent efforts, she became the first Cavalier swimmer to win gold at the World University Games since Matt McLean captured the 200 free and 4×200 free in 2011. She is also the first Cavalier woman to win gold since Cara Lane won the 800 and 1,500 free at the 1999 meet.

This past year, Smith was a two-time NCAA champion and four-time ACC Champion for the Cavaliers. She won the 500-yard freestyle and the 1,650 at the NCAA championships. In the prelims of the 500 free, She set a new NCAA record (4:30.37). Smith also took home titles in the 200, 500 and 1,650 free as well as the 800 free relay at the ACC meet.

Due to her success, particularly her progressive leap between her freshman and sophomore seasons going from a single third-place at the NCAA finals to two gold medals, Smith was listed as one of four finalists in the running for the Collegiate Women Sports Award. The last four finalists al won at least two individual events, putting Smith up against the likes of Missy Franklin, Simone Manuel and Kelsey Worrell. The winner of the award is put into the running for the prestigious 2015 Honda Cup.

Before qualifying for the national team, Smith earned a spot on the USA Swimming’s junior national team. At the 2012 Junior Pan Pacific Championships she earned Swimmer of the Meet laurels. The same year she also participated at the U.S. Olympic Trials. She hopes to compete again in 2016 and make the Olympic team.

Smith swam scholastically for Oakland Catholic. She dominated the distance freestyle races, setting district and state records. She holds three records at UVA in the 500, 1,000 and 1,605 free events. She’s the second-fastest U.S. swimmer ever in the 500 free.

Smith comes from a family of elite athletes. Her great uncle, Billy Conn, was a World Light Heavyweight boxing champion and her great grandfather, Jimmy, was a World Series champion. She is the daughter of Margee and Dan Smith, a former pole vaulter at UVA. Smith’s sister, Aileen, swims for Columbia. She also has two brothers, Daniel and Neal.