INDIANAPOLIS — When Regan Smith swam the 100-meter backstroke at Tuesday's Olympic trials, it was, in some ways, a race against herself.
Regan first set the world record in this same event five years ago at just 17, but mentally struggled with pressure and success.
Now, she says she's confident.
“I was just psyched out of my mind,” Smith said after Tuesday's race. “It was great.”
Psyched, just like Regan's loved ones there to cheer her on, including a special guest, her coach Dan Schneider flown in by Regan's family from Lakeville North High School.
“Everybody around our area was just so excited, was such an amazing feeling,” said Schneider. “(It's) one that I’ve had a hard time describing because it’s just so special”
So is Regan's natural talent, which Dan saw right away when she first joined his varsity team as a 7th grader. She placed second in the Minnesota state swim meet that fall, and after 48 years coaching thousands of kids, Dan knew Regan was different.
“She was so good underwater and you could even see as a seventh grader how good she was at doing that,” Schneider said.
Those turns were key to her win last night, when she came off the wall with history in sight, reaching the end two tenths of a second faster than the world record set a year ago.
Regan looked first at the clock, and then at the crowd.
“It means a lot,” Regan said after the race. “I have my dad, my mom, my stepmom, my high school swim coach, and they’ve been there every step of the way. They do more than I could ever even imagine.”
And the support's not over, as Regan next month chases Olympic gold and the chance to break her own world record, which she now thinks can happen.
“I knew it had it in me but for a long, long time I didn’t,” Regan said. "So I’m really, really happy that I finally started to believe in myself.”
“I think all of the swimmers in the state of Minnesota and certainly in the community of Lakeville are extremely proud of Regan,” said Dan. “She’s a tremendous person, and I couldn’t be any more proud of her.”
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