Kieran Smith

Kieran Smith (born May 20, 2000) is an American swimmer specializing in freestyle and individual medley events.

He currently co-holds short course world records in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay and the 4×100 meter medley relay.

He is the Americas record holder in the long course 400 meter freestyle and the American record holder in the 500 yard freestyle.

For the 100 meter freestyle, Smith swam a 49.40 and placed 20th overall in the prelims heats, not advancing to the semifinals of the event.

Smith's individual bronze medal was his first Olympic medal in any, individual or relay, event and the first Olympic medal for the United States in the 400 meter freestyle since 2012.

In the 200 meter freestyle, Smith was the only American to make it to the final of the event on July 27, placing sixth with a time of 1:45.12.

The next day, July 28, Smith split the fastest lead-off leg of the 4×200 meter freestyle relay across all finals relay teams with a personal best time of 1:44.74, which was approximately one second faster than the next-fastest lead-off swimmer and helped the United States relay consisting of him, Drew Kibler, Zach Apple, and Townley Haas place fourth with a time of 7:02.43.

A crowd of about 70 people welcomed Smith back to his hometown of Ridgefield, Connecticut following the Olympic Games in a meet and greet format after his parents had a car pick him up from the airport so they could surprise him when he arrived at the house.

Smith's swims for 2021, up to the end of August, were fast enough for him to earn spots in the 200 meter freestyle, 400 meter freestyle, and 200 meter individual medley on the 2021–2022 U.S. National Team.

Day one of the 2021 Georgia Tech Fall Invitational, November 18, Smith won a total of four events in one night for the Florida Gators, which included the 500 yard freestyle, 200 yard individual medley, 4x50 yard freestyle relay, and 4x100 yard medley relay.

The next morning, November 19, Smith raced in three individual events, swimming a 3:49.43 in the 400 yard individual medley, 47.27 in the 100 yard butterfly, and a 46.95 in the 100 yard backstroke.

Later in the day, in the finals session, Smith placed second in the 400 yard individual medley with a time of 3:46.95, fifth in the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 46.80 seconds, and first in the 4x200 yard freestyle relay in 6:14.99 where he split a 1:32.66 for the lead-off leg of the relay.

Smith's swims earned him the Southeastern Conference, SEC, honor of "Men's Swimmer of the Week" for the sixth week of the collegiate season.

Smith entered to compete in the 200 meter individual medley, 200 meter freestyle, 400 meter individual medley, and 400 meter freestyle at the 2021 World Short Course Championships in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in December, and the announcement of the United States team, including Smith, for the Championships was the number two item on the Swimming World honor of "The Week That Was" for the week of November 1, 2021.

Two weeks before the start of competition, Smith signed a professional sponsorship with Speedo.

On the first day of competition, December 16, Smith ranked second in the prelims heats of the 400 meter freestyle with a time of 3:38.61, qualifying for the final later the same day.

In the same prelims session, Smith qualified for the final of the 200 metre individual medley with a 1:54.01, ranking eighth overall.

In 2016 and 2017 Smith was named Connecticut High School Coaches Association "Swimmer of the Year".

In 2017, he qualified for the US National Junior Team and earned a silver medal at the 2017 Junior World Championships in the 200 meter individual medley.

He also placed fourth in the 400 meter individual medley and eleventh in the 200 meter backstroke at the Championships.

Smith grew up in Ridgefield, Connecticut and graduated from Ridgefield High School in 2018.

At the 2018 FINA World Swimming Championships in Hangzhou, China in December 2018, Smith placed 13th in the prelims heats of the 400 meter individual medley with a 4:08.52.

In the prelims heats of the 4×200 metre freestyle relay, Smith led-off the relay consisting of him, Jack Conger, Jacob Pebley, and Zach Harting with a 1:43.30 to help qualify the relay to the final ranking second.

For the finals relay, all prelims relay members except for Zach Harting were substituted out and the relay placed fourth overall.

For the 2019–2020 season, his sophomore year, Smith received the "Male Swimmer of the Year" award from the Southeastern Conference.

In the 400 meter freestyle, he won the bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics and the gold medal at the 2022 World Short Course Championships.

Following a fourth-place finish in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics, he won gold medals in the event at the 2021 World Short Course Championships, 2022 World Aquatics Championships (long course), and the 2022 World Short Course Championships.

Smith attends the University of Florida where he competes collegiately as part of the Florida Gators and set the American and NCAA records in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 4:06.32 at the 2020 SEC Championships.

During his sophomore year competing collegiately for the Florida Gators, Smith set the 500 yard freestyle American, NCAA, SEC, and Florida records with a 4:06.32 at the 2020 Southeastern Conference Championships in February 2020, which broke the record of 4:08.19 set by Townley Haas in 2019.

At the 2020 U.S. Open Swimming Championships, held in a virtual format in November 2020, he won gold medals in the 200 meter freestyle, with a 1:47.29, and the 400 meter freestyle, with a 3:48.78, as well as a bronze medal in the 800 meter freestyle with a 8:00.05.

During his junior year with the Florida Gators, Smith tied his American record in the 500 yard freestyle, swimming a 4:06.32 at the 2021 Southeastern Conference Championships.

His performances at the 2020 and 2021 Southeastern Conference Championships earned him the "Swimmer of the Meet" award at each Championships.

At the 2021 US Open Water Championships, Smith placed seventh in the 5 kilometer open water swim with a time of 1 hour and 13 seconds, and placed tenth in the 10 kilometer open water swim in 2 hours, 12 minutes, and 32 seconds.

Smith qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games in the 400 meter freestyle and the 200 meter freestyle, winning both events at the 2020 USA Swimming Olympic Trials.

In the prelims, semifinals, final structure of the 2020 US Olympic Trials, Smith was the only male swimmer to meet the Olympic qualifying standard time in the 400 meter freestyle.

He posted new lifetime bests of 3:44.86 in the 400 meter freestyle and 1:45.29 in the 200 meter freestyle.

Smith was the first swimmer at the 2020 US Olympic Trials to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in more than one individual event.

In the 200 meter individual medley, Smith swam a personal best time of 1:57.23 and finished third overall, not making the US Olympic Team in the event as only the top two event finishers, Michael Andrew and Chase Kalisz, qualified for the team.

The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan and held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic were Smith's first Olympic Games.

On July 25, 2021, Smith won a bronze medal in the 400 meter freestyle, finishing in 3:43.94.