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 The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

Personal

She graduated from Mount Sinai High School in

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

. 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 Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, where she was an anthropology major and a member of the

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent Stanford University. As of June, 2022, Stanford's program has won 131 NCAA team championships. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 46 consecutive ...

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

, where she was a five-time national champion for the

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). 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). Smit received the 2009–10

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...

for Swimming and Diving, recognizing her as the outstanding college female swimmer of the year.

2007–08

At the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic Com ...

, 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 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, 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 Kirsty Leigh Coventry Seward (born 16 September 1983) is a Zimbabwean swimmer and politician currently serving as the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation in the Cabinet of Zimbabwe since September 2018. A former Olympic swimmer and wo ...

's short course 400-meter individual medley record.

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. 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 The 2009 World Aquatics Championships ( it, Campionati mondiali di nuoto 2009) or the XIII FINA World Championships were held in Rome, Italy from 18 July to 2 August 2009. The 2009 Championships featured competition in all 5 aquatics disciplines ...

in Rome, Smit placed ninth in the 200-meter individual medley (2:10.29), barely missing a place in the final. 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 The 2009 Duel in the Pool was a swimming competition between a team from the United States and a combined British, German and Italian "E-Stars" team held on Friday 18 and Saturday 19 December 2009 at the Manchester Aquatics Centre, United Kingd ...

, Smit reclaimed the world record in the short course 400 m individual medley with a time of 4:21.04. One day later, she also broke the world record in the 200 m individual medley with a time of 2:04.60.

References

External links