Julia Smit

Julia Elizabeth Smit (born December 14, 1987) is an American competition swimmer, two-time Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder in two events. She has won a total of nine medals in major international competition, six golds, two silvers, and one bronze spanning the Olympics and Pan American Games.

Julia Smit

Smit in July 2017
Personal information
Full name	Julia Elizabeth Smit
National team	United States
Born	December 14, 1987 Santa Rosa, California
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	146 lb (66 kg)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Backstroke, freestyle, individual medley
Club	Three Village Swim Club
College team	Stanford University
Medal record Women's swimming Representing the United States Olympic Games 2008 Beijing 4x100 m freestyle 2008 Beijing 4x200 m freestyle Pan American Games 2007 Rio 100 m backstroke 2007 Rio 200 m medley 2007 Rio 4x100 m freestyle 2007 Rio 4x100 m medley 2011 Guadalajara 200 m medley 2011 Guadalajara 400 m medley 2007 Rio 200 m backstroke

Personal

She graduated from Mount Sinai High School in Long Island, New York. Both of her parents were born in the Netherlands. Her father, Peter, is a swim coach. Smit has an older brother, Mike, and a younger brother, Kevin, who are also swimmers. Smit attended Stanford University, where she was an anthropology major and a member of the Stanford Cardinal swimming and diving team.

Swimming career

As a high school student-athlete, Smit set New York state records in the 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard individual medley, swimming with the Three Village Swim Club.

Smit received an athletic scholarship to attend Stanford University, where she was a five-time national champion for the Stanford Cardinal swimming and diving team, having won the 400-yard individual medley three times (2008, 2009, 2010) and the 200-yard individual medley twice (2009, 2010).[1] Smit is the current American record holder in the 200 and 400-yard individual medley (short course), and 200 and 400-meter individual medley (short course).[2] Smit received the 2009–10 Honda Sports Award for Swimming and Diving, recognizing her as the outstanding college female swimmer of the year.[3][4]

2007–08

At the 2007 Pan American Games, Smit won the gold medal in the 100 m backstroke, 200 m IM, 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, and 4 × 100 m medley relay. Smit also won a silver medal in the 200 m backstroke.

At the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Smit finished third in the 200-meter freestyle and sixth in the 100-meter freestyle, earning berths for the 4x100 and 4×200-meter freestyle relays. Smit also finished third in the 400-meter individual medley at the trials. Smit was a member of the silver medal-winning U.S. team in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay and the bronze medal-winning team in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay at the 2008 Summer Olympics, swimming in the preliminary heats of both relay events.

On November 28, 2008, Smit set her first world record at the Canada Cup in Toronto, Ontario, breaking Kirsty Coventry's short course 400-meter individual medley record.[5]

2009

At the 2009 U.S. National Championships and World Championship Trials, Smit won her first national title in the 200-meter individual medley in 2:09.34, setting a new American record.[6] Smit also placed second in the 400-meter individual medley, and fourth in the 100-meter freestyle with a career-best 54.38. At the 2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome, Smit placed ninth in the 200-meter individual medley (2:10.29), barely missing a place in the final.[7] Smit also swam in the preliminaries of the 4×100-meter freestyle, which placed fourth in the final, and the freestyle leg of the 4×100-meter medley relay, which did not advance to the final.

At the 2009 Duel in the Pool, Smit reclaimed the world record in the short course 400 m individual medley with a time of 4:21.04.[8] One day later, she also broke the world record in the 200 m individual medley with a time of 2:04.60.[9]

See also

• List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women)
• List of Stanford University people
• World record progression 200 metres individual medley
• World record progression 400 metres individual medley

References

1. "Two Days, Two Records and Two NCAA Championships For Julia Smit". March 20, 2009. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011.
2. "Canada Cup: Julia Smit Follows World Record With American Record". November 29, 2008. Archived from the original on March 7, 2012.
3. Collegiate Women Sports Awards, Past Honda Sports Award Winners for Swimming & Diving. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
4. News, Stanford. "Olympian Julia Smit wins Honda Sports Award for swimming | The Dish". news.stanford.edu. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
5. "Julia Smit Sets World Record in 400-Meter Individual Medley". November 28, 2008.
6. "Julia Smit Downs American, U.S. Open Record in 200 IM". July 7, 2009.
7. "2009 World Championships results: Women's 200m individual medley semifinals" (PDF). July 26, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 6, 2009.
8. "Smit sets 400 individual medley WR". USA Today. December 18, 2009.
9. "Duel in the Pool: Women's 200m individual medley results". December 19, 2009.

External links

• Julia Smit at USA Swimming
• Julia Smit at the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee
• Julia Smit at the International Olympic Committee
• Julia Smit at the Olympic Channel
• Julia Smit at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
• Julia Smit – Stanford Cardinal athlete bio at the Wayback Machine (archived 2011-07-24)