British Olympian Amy Smith has announced her retirement from competitive swimming after a nearly 10-year competitive career.
Smith will go out with success, having been a part of the British 400 free relay at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow that won silver. That was her third-straight silver medal in that same relay at the Commonwealth Games.
“I’ve had some fantastic experiences as a result of being involved with swimming, and I have got some great memories from it, but I feel excited to move onto new things now, and for me, that was a good sign that it was time to move on,” Smith said.
“The highlight of my career would definitely be to have competed in a final at the Olympic Games. I have been so lucky that it happened to be a home Olympic Games too, which made it all the more special. It has always been something I had aimed for, so to achieve it was a proud moment.”
Those Commonwealth Games medals join with two medals from the 2010 European Long Course Championships (gold in the 400 medley, silver in the 400 free) and individual bronze from the 2011 European Short Course Championships in Smith’s trophy-case.
The 2006 Commonwealth Games were her international debut, and has been a key part of Britain’s relays for most of the 9 years since.
That includes a swim in front of a home crowd at the 2012 London Olympic Games, where she stood on the block as the lead-off leg for the eventual 5th-place British relay. Smith’s 54.27 leadoff in that event had her team in 4th before sliding a spot.
She just missed an individual finals swim as well at that meet: the pinnacle of her career. She was 14th in the semi-finals of the 100 free, and after winning a three-way swimoff to clear the first round of competition round wound up 9th in the semi-finals of the 50 free.
Smith is 27-years old.
