State swimmer 6th at Olympics
Ridgefield’s Kieran Smith concluded his individual Olympic debut in Tokyo on Monday night with a sixth-place finish in the men’s 200-meter freestyle final, finishing in 1 minute, 45.12 seconds.
Ridgefield’s Kieran Smith concluded his individual Olympic debut in Tokyo Monday night with a sixthplace finish for Team USA in the men’s 200-meter freestyle final, finishing in 1 minute, 45.12 seconds.
Smith, the second-seeded swimmer in the event, swam in lane five and reached the first turn in 24.58 seconds in fifth place before hitting the half-way mark of the race at 100 meters in 50.94.
On his way back from hitting the final turn at 1:17.81, Smith was passed by the ROC’s (Russian Olympic Committee) Martin Malyutin in the final 50 meters and fell to sixth place.Great Britain’s Dean Thomas won the gold medal in 1:44.22, followed by teammate Duncan Scott with the silver in 1:44.26 and Brazil’s Fernando Scheffer with the bronze in 1:44.66.
Smith won his first Olympic medal Saturday night, earning the bronze for finishing the 400 freestyle with a personal best of 3:43.94. His third-place finish gave Team USA its third medal of the Summer Games. It was the country’s first medal in the 400 free since the 2012 London Olympics and fifth since the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
While his individual competition in Tokyo might be over, Smith can still be selected to compete for Team USA in relay events later this week.
A 2018 graduate of Ridgefield High School, Smith was twice named the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Swimmer of the Year. Competing collegiately for the Gators, the 14-time NCAA AllAmerican is a four-time SEC champion, a two-time AllSEC First Team honoree and was named the 2020 SEC Male Swimmer of the Year.
The 21-year-old University of Florida senior earned his spot in Monday’s 200 free final after coming in second during heat two of Sunday’s semifinals. In lane one of the second semifinal, Smith finished behind Scott with a personal best of 1:45.07. Scott finished with the fastest seed time going into the final of 1:44.60.
Smith was the 13th overall seed entering the 200 free semifinals after finishing in fourth in his opening heat in 1:46.20 of the 200 free prelims on Sunday morning.