Brookfield's Smart Qualifies for Olympic Trials

Brookfield High School (BHS) swimming standout Maddy Smart recently competed at the 2011 SPEEDO Junior National Championships held at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California after gaining eligibility at the Missouri Grand Prix held in February. 

No stranger to coming up big in championship events, Smart showed off her ability against the nation’s top competition by winning the consolation final of the 100 Meter Freestyle with a time of 57.05. She edged nine other swimmers by touching the wall first in a race that was virtually neck-and-neck from start to finish.

“I wasn’t sure,” Smart said of whether or not she had won the race. When she heard the announcer call out her name and time she knew she not only won but also qualified for the Olympic Trials.

“I was overjoyed," she said. "It was a major goal of mine. I was so excited.”

The time was more than good enough to earn Smart a spot in the Olympic Trials to be held in Omaha, Nebraska next summer in anticipation of the 2012 Summer Games that will take place in London, England.

“It has been thrilling, we are so proud,” Steve Smart, Maddy’s father, said of watching his daughter develop into a premier swimmer in the South-West Conference, the state of Connecticut and now competing for a spot on the Olympic team.

Smart’s father was unable to join her in California but her mother was on hand to witness the exciting moment.

“I looked up into the stands and she was so happy,” Smart said of seeing her mom after the race. “I got out of the pool and walked towards her and she practically fell over the railing to give me hug.”

“She has worked awfully hard,” Steve Smart said, “It is great seeing her get what she deserves.”

“Every step has prepared me for where I am now,” Smart said. “All the experience has come together for me. Mentally it makes it easier. I can think back to the Grand Prix, the SWCs, States, and know that I can swim well. I wasn’t intimidated. I knew I was supposed to be there.”

Her time proved that. She finished 11th overall among those competing in the event and was seventh best among 16-year-olds. Her time was the 79th best time among 16-year-olds who have ever swum the event in its history and it was a Connecticut record for the age 15-16 age group.

She will have to improve her time to move into the top two finishers by June of next summer to make the U.S. Olympic team. She could also be selected as relay team swimmer without finishing in the top two of her event.

Smart, who is only 16 and heading into her junior year at BHS, swims year round for both the Lady Bobcats and the Wilton Y Wahoos. As part of her rigorous training she is up at 4 a.m. to be at the Wilton pool by 5:15.

“She has great support from her coaches,” Steve Smart said. “But I give her credit. She is up early in the morning and back at the pool in the afternoon. She doesn’t complain. She has sacrificed a lot of her personal life.”

“I am where I am because of my coaches,” Smart said of Lady Bobcat coach Brandt Nigro and Wahoo coach Randy Erlenbach. “They have taught me everything I know.”

While at the Junior Nationals, Smart also competed in the 50 Free, 200 Free and 400 Free. Although she was unable duplicate the success she had in the 100 Free, she did swim well in the other events. 

She will continue to try and earn an Olympic qualifying time in the 200 Free by competing in the Senior Nationals held in Atlanta, Georgia in December. She will have one other opportunity to achieve her goal in February when she will go back to the University of Missouri for another Grand Prix.

Smart gained valuable experience being surrounded by Olympic level competition at the Mizzou Aquatic Center earlier in the year. On hand for the Grand Prix was 12-time Olympic medalist Dara Torres and world record swimmer Jessica Hardy.

Drawing from that experience and her experience in competing in the SWC and Class M State Championships, where she has set records in the 50 Free and the 100 Free, helped her to stay calm in the biggest race of her young career.

With the Lady Bobcats season fast approaching, Smart will have to work extra hard to help the team achieve the success of a season ago while maintaining her focus on being ready for the Senior Nationals, which will take place two weeks after the high school season.

“The girls have such great heart, they are very motivated,” Smart said of her Brookfield teammates. “We have such a great coach, he is so excited to get the season going.”

Anybody who has ever watched Smart swim knows she brings a certain electricity into the pool with her. From shocking the crowd by setting a 50 Free record as a freshman to getting fans out of their seats as the anchor in the record-setting 400 Free relay as a sophomore at the SWC Championships, Smart has proven she can come up big when it matters most.