I find it somewhat extraordinary to think that former swimmer Michelle Smith is going on 53 now. It seems such a short time since, at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, she became Ireland’s most successful-ever Olympian, and the first Irish woman to capture a gold medal.
The events she took gold in were: the 400m individual medley; 400m freestyle, and the 200m individual medley. She won a bronze in the 200m butterfly event.
Michelle (her married name is Michelle Smith de Bruin) started competitive swimming at the age of 13. She quickly learned that to be able to compete at international level she needed more advanced facilities and training techniques than were available in Ireland. So she went to the University of Houston in America, and graduated with a degree in communications.
Unsuccessful at the Games of 1988 and 1992 she, and her coach, Erik de Bruin (a Dutch discus thrower), moved to the Netherlands in 1994. By 1996 Michelle had peaked, setting her fastest ever times. Asked about this, she put it down to more sophisticated training techniques and her single-minded focus on swimming.
She made a point, too, of saying that she was probably the most tested athlete in Irish history, and that she had never tested positive for banned substances.
Her sensational success at the Atlanta Olympics was treated thus by Encyclopaedia Britannica: “Her triumph, however, was somewhat tarnished by unsubstantiated rumours that she had used performing enhancing drugs.” And as Britannica also pointed out, she “passed all the pre-and-post-Olympic drug tests.”
She was never stripped of her Olympic gold medals.
She later studied law, and was admitted to the bar (made a barrister) in 2005. She is a practising, active lawyer, and lives in Kilkenny.
I met her when she came to one of Ireland’s training camps. I still feel proud and pleased to have met her, and to have this photograph with her.
