Lakeville swimmer Regan Smith wins gold medal in women’s medley relay to cap her Olympics

Lakeville swimmer Regan Smith capped her Paris Olympics by winning a gold medal with the United States’ women’s 4x100-meter medley relay on Sunday in the final event in the pool.

On her way to her fifth medal in Paris, Smith finally beat her Australian rival Kaylee McKeown, swimming the opening backstroke leg in 57.28, just missing her own world record by .15 seconds.

Breaststroker Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh on butterfly and Torri Huske on freestyle brought it home in a world-record time of 3:49.63. They beat Australia by nearly three and a half seconds. China won bronze.

The women’s relay has been won by the U.S. or Australia in the last nine Olympics.

By winning three medals at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, Smith was already a rare Minnesotan to win more than two in the same Games (she was joined by St. Paul gymnast Suni Lee in that feat in 2021).

Smith, 22, now has eight career medals, making her the most decorated Minnesotan Summer Olympian. Lee, 21, has six and is going for her seventh on Monday.

Smith won her second relay gold in as many days, but this time she was actually in the pool. On Saturday, she gained her first Olympic gold medal when the U.S. won the mixed medley relay final, an event she swam a preliminary heat for the day before.

It was perhaps an anticlimactic way to win a first gold after three individual silver medals in Paris — in the 100 and 200 backstroke and 200 butterfly. She had two silvers in Tokyo too, in the 200 butterfly and the women’s medley relay, to go with bronze in the 100 backstroke.

There was no anticlimax Sunday. The U.S. team was fired up by Bobby Finke’s victory and world record in the men’s 1,500 freestyle earlier in the session. The Americans were also motivated by its medal-count battle with Australia.

Finke’s win had tied the two countries at seven golds apiece. Then the American men’s medley relay finished second to China. The only other time since 1960 the U.S. didn’t win the race was in 1980, when it boycotted the Moscow Games.

It was the highly decorated women’s medley relay to the rescue. Between them, Smith, Walsh and Huske collected 14 medals in Paris. Huske and Smith led the American team with five apiece, with Huske taking home three golds and two silvers.

Their victory allowed the U.S. to edge out Australia for the top spot in the gold medal table.

“Just an awesome way to cap off the meet,” King said.

As the women gathered on the pool deck after the race, Smith could be seen mouthing, “I’m so proud of us.”

And on this night, Smith got to stand on top of the podium and hear her national anthem, an experience her three teammates had had before.

“They’ve all heard the anthem on the podium and I haven’t yet,” Smith said in an interview with NBC after the race. “I’m so excited to be up there with them this time and to get to do it. I’m so thrilled.”

The U.S. finished with 28 swimming medals overall, two shy of their total three years ago in Tokyo. It was the lowest victory total for the Americans since the 1988 Seoul Games, when they were beaten by a doping-tainted East German program.

The Star Tribune did not send the writer of this article to the event. This was written using a broadcast, interviews and other material.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.