At this point during our COVID-19 shutdown, I’m looking forward to the Olympic Games whether they are in 2020 or 2021. For World champion and World record holder Regan Smith it does not matter. Her star is rising fast, and I don’t see the momentum slowing down. Regan had a stellar showing at the Des Moines Pro Swim, dropping 58.1 and 2:06.1 in the 100m and 200m backstroke, and she swam personal best times in the 100m and 200m butterfly.
DES MOINES PRO SWIM – REGAN SMITH BUTTERFLY:
- 100 FLY – 57.34
- 200 FLY – 2:06.39
Most swim nerds know this, but Regan trains yards all year long. Unless she’s at the OTC, she does not train meters, and she has a tough dryland schedule she says has made the difference in the butterfly, helping her build upper body strength.
PREDICTIONS
Whether the Olympic Games are in 2020 or 2021, Regan makes the U.S. Olympic Team in the 100 fly, dropping a 56.5, provided she swims it. She makes the team in 200 fly, ripping a 2:05.1, provided she swims it. But who cares what I think…what do you think?
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This is a Gold Medal Media production presented by SwimOutlet.com. Host Gold Medal Mel Stewart is a 3-time Olympic medalist and the co-founder of SwimSwam.com, a Swimming News website.
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Her underwaters are on par w Dahlia already…will be nice to see her work toward extending those walls!
Elephant in the room? If the OGs are pushed back a year, I see Regan’s fly developing even more. Time is on her side.
Great point. With a now older cohort trying to qualify a second time, a third time, etc., any yearlong delays in Olympic selection and competition absolutely favor the young.
Same topic, different question: if the OGs are pushed back a year, and Regan presumably gets a year of college next year, does that change her plan for going pro before the Olympics? Maybe a year of the college will be enough for her to say she’s loved it but it’s time to answer those phone calls.
Well, her fly’s going to be phenomenal now, since dryland’s about it.
If dryland has changed her fly already, I’m gonna say that after 5 years of college (one redshirt) she will graduate as a flyer and not a backstroker. It’s not all that uncommon. Lifting changes and athletes body. Anecdotally I’ve seen half a dozen college swimmers/teammates make the transition from back to fly once they started lifting. In the real world, the best example I can think of is Jack Conger. Went into college as a backstroker (yes he was fast at fly too) and came out with an American record in the 200 fly.
Unfortunately with Conger, with his 1:55 LCM 200 back before entering college, he should’ve stuck with backstroke.
I wonder if we would even think about feeling this way if he had gone his 1:54 in 2016 instead of 2015.