‘Patriotic’ Team USA Swimmer Regan Smith Loves Representing America
By Movieguide® Contributor
Multi-time Olympic medalist Regan Smith is proud to represent the United States at the Paris Olympics.
Per Fox News Digital, “Smith qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris after her dominating performance in the women’s 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke and the 200-meter fly at the recent U.S. Olympic Swimming Team Trials in Indianapolis. She set the world record in the 100-meter.”
Smith is grateful for the opportunity to swim for her country.
“It almost moved me to tears,” she told Fox News Digital of her first opportunity to don the red, white and blue for Team USA in Tokyo 2020.
“I had such a strong sense of pride, and I was getting up behind the blocks, and I wasn’t just swimming for me, I was swimming for the entire country behind me, who had my back and who wanted me to succeed,” she added.
In a post she shared on Instagram of her time at the Olympic Trials, Smith wrote, “Patience is a virtue. I’m overjoyed to have the opportunity to swim the 200 backstroke at the Olympic Games for the first time.”
When Smith describes the times she got to swim for Team USA in the past, she never talks about the medals or the records but constantly focuses on the honor and privilege it is to represent her country.
“I am such a patriotic girl. I love America so much. I am such an American girl to my core, seriously,” she said.
“It never gets old, truly. Each summer when I’ve gotten to put the American flag cap on my head and represent it, I am so unbelievably proud,” she continued. “And every time I’m able to stand on top of a podium and put my hand on my heart and hear the national anthem play over the entire aquatic center, it’s very special. It never gets old. I would say it kind of gains importance and value each time that it happens for me. And so this summer is going to be no different. I’m just going to be so unbelievably excited to put that cap on and go overseas and represent the best country in the history of the world, I’d say. And it’s just – it’s wonderful. It’s really, really wonderful. And I’m so proud to be American every time that I compete for my country.”
Movieguide® previously reported on another athlete who’s thrilled to be part of Team USA:
Ezra Frech is a long jump and high jump Paralympian and almost brought home two medals from Tokyo in 2021 when he was just 15.
Now, nearly three years later, Frech is grateful to be able to represent his country on the international stage again.
Frech “was born with congenital limb differences and is missing most of his left leg and fingers on his left hand, is likely headed for his second consecutive Paralympics after winning a gold medal in the T63 high jump in the 2023 Paris World Championships and a silver medal in the 2024 Kobe World Championships,” Fox News Digital reported.
In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, he explained what an honor it is to be able to represent the U.S.
“It was a dream of mine since I was a little kid to represent the red, white and blue,” Frech explained. “I mean, this country’s amazing, and I’m grateful for all the opportunities it’s brought me. I’m grateful to be living in the best nation in the world.
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