Regan Smith Clips 100 Fly NAG with a 57.86 in Knoxville

by Robert Gibbs 6

January 17th, 2020 National, News

2020 PRO SWIM SERIES – KNOXVILLE

Even world record holders hit plateaus, especially in “off” events. Regan Smith swam her first 58-second 100 fly in the June of 2018, when she was 16 years old, and had been under 59 seconds an additional seven times since then, but without managing to break through the 58-second barrier.

That changed tonight, knocked over half a second off her previous lifetime best of 58.38 to take 2nd with a time of 57.86. Smith, who burst onto the world scene last summer with world records in both the 200 and 100 backstrokes, told NBC after that it felt good to finally swim a new best time in the 100 fly after nearly two years.

Not only was that a best time, but it also set a National Age Group record for the 17-18 age group, clipping the mark of 57.87 set by Katie McLaughlin in 2015. Smith will have plenty of time to improve on that record, as she is only 17 years old. It’s worth noting, however, that the 15-16 NAG is actually faster, thanks to 16 year-old Torri Huske‘s 57.48 at last month’s US Open.

Tonight’s swim moves Smith to 3rd among US women so far this season, behind only Huske and veteran Amanda Kendall, who won tonight’s A-final with a 57.65.

Smith is incredibly versatile, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see her vie for a butterfly spot on a major international team before too long. The women’s 100 fly is the first day at Olympic Trials, and while the finals for that event would be during the same session as the 100 back semifinals the following evening, those two events bookend the session, meaning that it could be a reasonable double for Smith to attempt, if she feels so inclined.

In This Story

6
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

6 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
PhillyMark
4 years ago

Her underwater off the turn was really good. Went whole 15m and appeared to pull ahead of Dahlia.

ALEXANDER POP-OFF
Reply to  PhillyMark
4 years ago

Damn! And Dahlia is an underwater beast.

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  ALEXANDER POP-OFF
4 years ago

indeed , but she is already incredible on her backstroke underwaters …. it helped her brake those WR’s last summer .

Bobo Gigi
4 years ago

Impressive. Especially just after swimming a 200 free.
Of course Regan could swim the 100 fly at trials and finish top 2 but I don’t like the idea of her doing that event in Tokyo where she would have very few medal chances.
Focus on the events where you have the highest chance of gold medals.
She has enough to do with backstroke and relays this summer.
And after Tokyo she will work on her breaststroke to become a 200 IM beast and break the world record.

Yozhik
4 years ago

Look at the size of her nails. I’m wondering why male swimmers don’t do the same. 😀 Is the usage of artificial nails prohibited?

James
4 years ago

Unreal!!!!!

When will we be able to watch her swim at Stanford?

About Robert Gibbs