Armstrong alumna Sierra Smith recently reached a major career goal, making the Olympic trials cut for the 50-meter freestyle and booking a ticket to the USA Swimming Olympic trials this summer in Indianapolis.
Smith has made several attempts at the Olympic trial cut but has narrowly missed out each time.
“The last go-around for Olympic trials, the time to get was 25.99. I swam this race maybe five times, within a 10th of a second each time and ended up not making it,” she said. “This time, I swam the race but they had made the time faster to get to the Olympic trials (25.69). I was prepared for it, [Missouri] had just competed in our short course season. I swam the race pretty well for not having competed in long course recently. I got a best time, but was 300th of a second short of the new qualifying time.”
Faced with another close call, Smith took one last shot at qualification through a time trial which took place on March 15 at the Columbia Sectionals in Missouri, but outside of the official events.
“It was kind of, ‘Oh it’s happening again.’ I was so close and I had my family there cheering me on. At that same meet, there was an opportunity the next day to do a time trial,” she said. “It would be just me in this heat. I had friends and all the coaches there, even though this wasn’t officially part of the meet, and I ended up going way under the time. It was so exciting, after years of feeling close, to finally break way under the time.”
Smith swam the 50 freestyle in 25.52 seconds to earn a spot at the trials.
Smith noted that the preparation up to this point had involved a largely short course approach, reflected in her college swimming preparation and competitions. The race itself was a long course. Long course pools are 50 meters, while short course pools are 25 and are common in high school and college meets.
“Each summer, for about three months, we’ll train long course swimming to get used to stroke count. This year, it was short course training from August to March basically, training for conference and nationals with the college team,” Smith said. “I had a couple of new coaches this year and just got along with them really well. We adjusted training on short course to work on getting a better break out, better finishes, different tempos.”
Smith also said that there was a mental side to the preparation that was key and focused on seeing the bigger picture of the challenge rather than focusing in on the smallest details.
“The mental side of it was also important. ... Each time [there was an obstacle], instead of thinking oh I’m so close, what can I do to drop 0.03, I would just think I’m going to race a perfect race. ... I was making the joke that I’m going to swim it so perfectly I can finish it with my head and get the time.”
Family, friends, and teammates were ready to celebrate with Smith near and far after she made the trial cut, reflecting a major factor in Smith’s passion for the sport of swimming.
“Community is what makes swimming so special for me,” she said. “Friends and family back home watching and texting, it’s so sweet to know that they care and are following along. They’ve been there for the highs and lows the whole way. After qualifying I got to call so many people and just celebrate. That’s the reason I do it.”
There is work ahead for Smith, who now looks to June, when she will take part in the Olympic trials in Indianapolis, with a chance to show her talent to the greater world of high-level American swimming.
“They put a pool into the football stadium, so it’s going to be just a fun environment to compete in,” she said. “I’ll keep preparing in long course now, just to do the best that I can there. Ultimately, I’m just so excited to race in that environment. There’s going to be 30,000 fans and of course it’s exciting because that’s where they choose the Olympic team. I’m not in the top two to make it right now, but just to be where those decisions are being made gives me a new fire to train with.”
Smith, who is set to graduate from the University of Missouri this spring, has had an eventful college career.
In addition to several academic honor roll honors, Smith has had an impact at Missouri with four competitive years of NCAA DI swimming, earning a deep resume of high finishes, particularly in the 50 freestyle.
Her accomplishments as a Falcon include winning the 100- and 200-yard freestyle races at the 2019 state tournament, winning the Athena Award, and placing third at the 50-meter freestyle at the 2019 Minnesota Swimming Senior LC Championships.
Most Popular
Comments / 0