Regan Smith Deserved Nomination for Female Athlete of the Year Award
Later this month, at the Golden Goggle Awards in Denver, USA Swimming will announce award winners in five categories. When Female Athlete of the Year is revealed, an acceptance speech will be given by Katie Ledecky, Gretchen Walsh, Kate Douglass or Katharine Berkoff. All four athletes enjoyed sensational 2025 campaigns, highlighted by at least one world championship each.
But a fifth nominee should have been included: Regan Smith. At the World Championships in Singapore, Smith collected five medals. She earned a trio of silvers in the backstroke events, added a runnerup finish in the 200 butterfly and earned a gold medal while leading off the United States’ 400 medley relay, which set a world record.
Yet, Smith was not a finalist for Female Athlete of the Year.
The obvious requirement for nomination in the category was an individual world championship. While Ledecky (800 freestyle/1500 freestyle) and Walsh (50 butterfly/100 butterfly) secured two titles each, Douglass (200 breaststroke) and Berkoff (50 backstroke) secured one gold medal each. Given what they achieved, none of these women should have been bumped off the ballot by Smith.
However, there is something to be said about an athlete’s overall body of work, and Smith put together an excellent 2025 season, which included a strong showing at the World Champs. Aside from finishing just behind Berkoff in the 50 backstroke, Smith took second to Australian star Kaylee McKeown in the 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke. In the 200 butterfly, Smith’s silver medal arrived behind the gold of Canadian standout Summer McIntosh.
Since emerging on the scene as a teenager at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, Smith has been a consistent presence for the United States. She has piled up a hefty collection of medals at the Olympic Games and World Championships and many of her runnerup finishes have come to a pair of future Hall of Famers – a distinction Smith could claim one day in the future.
When the United States National Team roster was released earlier this week, no athlete boasted more positions than Smith, who corralled seven. Smith is a National Teamer in all three backstroke and butterfly events, and in the 200 individual medley. That’s one hell of a year. For the record, here are Smith’s world rankings for 2025: 50 backstroke (fifth); 100 backstroke (second); 200 backstroke (second); 50 butterfly (13th); 100 butterfly (10th); 200 butterfly (second); 200 individual medley (17th).
Smith might not be the choice for Female Athlete of the Year at the Golden Goggle Awards. But she certainly achieved another in 2025 to deserve a nomination.
