OMAHA, Neb. — Second Olympic event, check!
Ridgefield native and current Florida Gator Kieran Smith not only qualified for his second event at the Tokyo Olympics but also won the men's 200-meter freestyle at Olympic Trials in the process.
“It is incredible,” Kieran Smith told Swimming World Magazine. “It means a lot to me to be able to represent the USA in a relay. Those races are exciting with extra guys trying to make the team.”
Smith won the event Tuesday night with a staggering time of 1:45.29. To put this in perspective, this puts him at sixth in the world for this event.
Fellow countryman, Townley Haas, will be joining Smith in the event after finishing second in the event with a time of 1:45.66. Drew Kibler (1:45.92) and Andrew Seliskar (1:46.34) finished third and fourth respectively.
The Olympic rookie who just completed his junior year at Florida, shaved nearly 3 seconds off his previous personal best Sunday night, to win the 400 freestyle. He finished in 3:44.86 seconds.
Smith is the second Ridgefield High School alum to qualify for the Olympics in swimming. Janel Jorgensen went to the Seoul Olympics in 1988 after winning two gold medals at the PAN American Games.
Smith is also competing in the 400 IM, 100 Free, 800 Free, 200 Back, and 200 IM. His next events will be on Wednesday, June 16, where he will be swimming the men's 100 and 800 freestyle.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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