While all eyes were on Katie Ledecky’s historic Olympic gold medal swim in the women’s 400-meter freestyle, focus in Pittsburgh was on Leah Smith.
Smith, who graduated from Oakland Catholic High School, competed alongside Ledecky, who was favored to win the gold medal. While Ledecky broke her own record with her 3:56.46 swim, Smith had one of her best races, coming in third to win the bronze medal with her 4:01.92 swim. Coming in second place to win the silver was Great Britain’s Jazmin Carlin with her 4:01.23 time.
During the preliminary round for the 400-meter swim, Smith, 21, who received plenty of well-wishes from Pittsburgh athletes like Antonio Brown, swam a 4:03.39.
Smith, who is currently a senior at the University of Virginia, will compete again on Aug. 11, where she will swim in the women’s 800-meter freestyle preliminary event. Depending on her placement in the race, she could swim for another medal.
