Lakeville star swimmer Regan Smith wins relay gold to wrap up World Championships
Lakeville swimmer Regan Smith completed her World Championship schedule with a bang, bringing home gold in the women’s 4×100-meter medley relay Sunday in Japan.
Smith swam the backstroke — the opening leg — of the relay for the U.S. team, turning in a time of 57.68 seconds. Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh and Kate Douglass combined to win the race with a time of 3 minutes, 52.08 seconds. That was more than a second faster than Australia, which finished second.
“I think Team USA knows how to do medley relays really well, and I think we had something to prove tonight,” Smith said. “We’ve all had great weeks, but we’ve also had our ups and downs, and I think we wanted to end on a really positive note. I think we all really executed (this race) perfectly and did just that.”
Smith leaves Japan with five medals — gold in the relay, silver in the 50-, 100- and 200-meter backstroke races and bronze in the 200-meter butterfly. The 21-year-old, who turned pro last year, is likely to make her second Olympics appearance next summer in France.
