Smith wins gold, silver at nationals
Mt. Lebanon native Leah Smith won gold and silver during the Phillips 66 National Championships in July and later in the year was awarded with the Perseverance Award at USA Swimming's Golden Goggle Awards event
Leah Smith
Mt. Lebanon native Leah Smith earned gold and silver swimming medals during the Phillips 66 National Championships held July 26-30 in Irvine, Calif.
The 27-year-old daughter of Margee and Dan Smith won the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 2:11.67. She finished runner-up to Katie Ledecky by the slimmest of margins in the 400 IM.
Ledecky won the race in 4:35.77. Smith followed in 4:36.66.
Earlier this summer, Smith competed in the 2022 FINA World Championships, where she was voted as one of the team’s five captains.
During the competition held in Budapest, she made the final of the 400 freestyle and scored a bronze by sneaking into third place with a time of 4:02.08, a scant .08 ahead of fourth place.
Ledecky won the event in 3:58.15. Summer McIntosh from Canada took the silver in 3:59.39.
Smith was just out of the medal hunt with fourth in the 800. Ledecky also won that race.
Smith also swam the second leg of the 800 free relay in the final, splitting 1:56.47 to help Team USA capture gold in a championship record time of 7:41.45.
After missing out of competing in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Smith resurrected her career by joining the Longhorn Aquatics club in Texas and training under Carol Capitani.
In her career, Smith won two Olympic medals, gold and bronze, during the 2016 Summer Games in Rio. She is an eight-time world champion medalist, four-time Pan Pacs medalist and two-time World University Games medalist.
She is a two-time U.S. national and four-time NCAA champion.
Smith is a University of Virginia and Oakland Catholic graduate.