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U.S. OLYMPIC SWIM TRIALSJune 27, 2016Leah SmithOmaha, Nebraska Q. (No microphone.) LEAH SMITH: Well, my coach always says like -- he always says at the NCAAs, when you get to the finals it's all about racing. So that's what I wanted to do. I had really no time goal in mind, I just wanted to race and get faster from my morning swim. Q. (No microphone.) LEAH SMITH: I mean, I raced her at Minnesota, and I felt like I -- like I had never, like, been able to see her feet before, so that was pretty exciting and for this, I mean, my goal wasn't really like, stay with her, because that might be like a stupid plan, but I really just wanted to, like, keep my eye on everybody, but my coach always says swim your own race, and, so, yeah, that's what I wanted to do. I knew that I could take it out fast and hold on so, yeah. Q. (No microphone.) LEAH SMITH: I -- I don't know because everybody is always like, Leah never goes faster, and she'll never beat her time for the morning, so it's been something I have been working on for so long. I just get so super excited in the morning, and I just have to race. But I did not expect that. That's like my ultimate, ultimate goal to break 4 minutes, every since I saw Federica Pellegrini do it, like when I was little I wanted to do it. So to be that close, just, unreal. I wanted to go 4:02 or 4:01 at this meet, so that's really cool. Q. (No microphone.) LEAH SMITH: For sure. It definitely started with Katie Hoff, Allison Schmitt, like that, because I'm older than Katie, but then once Katie, like, had her 800 Free in London and took women's distance swimming to another level that it hadn't been in a couple years I think that made everybody inspired, and she just showed how many barriers we can break. Q. (No microphone.) LEAH SMITH: I would say so. I mean, yeah, sometimes I have trouble, like, containing myself on the first half, but, yeah, I think I try do that. I mean, that's just the way I train. I don't do, like, a ton of yardage where I would be able to just have a back half, but I do work on my back half, but, yeah. Q. (No microphone.) LEAH SMITH: All the first-time Olympians. I feel like not a lot of people see the background, you know, like Maya DiRado and Kevin Cordes have been good since 2013 and, you know, missed out earlier. I was nowhere near making the team in 2012, so it's been a steady progress but, yeah, it's really cool to be one of the first-timers. Q. (No microphone.) LEAH SMITH: I mean, yeah, I mean, if we want to have a 1-2 or 1-3 finish for USA, I'm going to have to stay close to her, and I think she would be just as excited about that, having a fellow American on the medals team. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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