Regan Smith

Um, this is, this is the Fort Lauderdale US or Fort Lauderdale Open super suited.

We've got Katie Ledecky, Bobby Finke, Regan Smith, Leon Marchand, Hubie Koch, Jordan Crooks, obviously the UVA pros, Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, Isabelle Stodden, Amy Canny, Emma Weber, um, Simone Manuel, Kathryn Berkhof, Molly Hanis, who's returning, who hasn't swam a race since 2021 ISL season.

Yeah.

I thought that was a fun one.

Kinda felt like when, uh, in 2022 when David Popovici broke 1:44 for the first time since 2012.

Then of course after Zhang Yifei did that, Summer McIntosh did Summer McIntosh things, finally breaking that world record this year, and even, you know, a little bit after she did it the year after, or yeah, the year after that, Regan Smith also joined that.

So but she definitely felt like Zhang Yifei was the first swimmer to kinda start digging the 200 butterfly out of that rut.

She's won medals in that event at many different meets and she, you know, hit the absolute pinnacle you can in any event of winning the Olympic gold medal back in 2021.

I mean, we obviously want Kaylee McKeown back because she is the backstroke queen undisputedly, backstroke GOAT.

Uh, her and Regan Smith must see TV every time they get in the pool, and now they have a, a stable of other legitimate competitors.

Mm.

Obviously Sarah Curtis in there at least for the 50, if not the 100 as well.

Which is freaking bonkers.

I think Regan Smith would be ahead of Katie.

I think Regan Smith is also ahead of Katie.

I mean, especially pending what-

Is-

I have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight names right now.

Mm-hmm.

Summer, Loni, Kate Douglas, Gretchen, Merit Steenbergen, Sarah Curtis, Katie Ledecky, Regan Smith.

[upbeat music] I'm Mel Stewart, and this is a GM takeover of the SwimSwam podcast.

Joining me today, eight-time Olympic medalist Regan Smith, coming off the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships where she won three medals: one gold, two silver.

She's not happy with that performance.

Not a surprise to fans.

Joining this conversation is Coleman Hodges, our head of production at SwimSwam, and we get really deep in the weeds with her.

I think you're gonna enjoy it.

Regan Smith.

All right.

It goes into the night 500 miles.

We see surprise winners, Regan Smith, Eric Jones, when he was 80-1 in 2022.

Even – who was it just recently that won –

briscoe's won the last two briscoe

Jason, you've been down there.

What sticks out to you in person other than Regan Smith winning at Darlington?

Well,

yeah, you had a –

She is amazing, also just a great human being.

Um, but it's, you know, you still have Regan Smith, you still have Katherine Berkoff, you still have Claire Curzan, Isabelle Stodden, who's just on the rise.

And if she's able to even build off of what she did this year, she's going to be a serious threat, um, not only for the 2027 Worlds, but also for the Olympics in 2028.

So I'm gonna sink it just based on the depth.

That's how fast those times were.

Um, and it's...

Yes, it's easy to want to s- obviously, I think everybody wants to see can Stouden go a world record time? Can she break a world record? Can she insert herself into that prestigious group with Regan Smith, with Kathryn Berkoff, that we talk of so highly? And it seemed like for pretty much this entire season, we subconsciously threw her into that group because of the times that she was throwing down, and how much she was doing it, and how it just kept getting faster.

Now, there's a lot of time-

Now, the main thing that I'm wondering now is should more swimmers do this? Should more swimmers manufacture some kind of beef or maybe just actually legitimately hate each other? Because there seems to be an overwhelming abundance of friendly rivalries in swimming, which friendly rivalries are cool.

I'd say Regan Smith and Kaylee McEwen have a very friendly rivalry.

They obviously are incredibly incredibly close to one another in terms of speed.

Kaylee McEwen often gets the better of Regan Smith, but overall, they both, you know, tend to speak highly of the other one and respect each other as competitors, right? Lonnie Pallister and Katie Ledecky.

You could easily see a narrative where Ledecky is super bitter towards this up-and-comer who's, you know, handed her first international defeat in the 800 freestyle during pan packs.

Ledecky was like, looked Super happy for Lonnie to get that win.