Former Gator Kieran Smith Medals as Late Substitution in USA Relay Team

Former Florida Gators star Kieran Smith was a late substitution for Team USA and ended up swimming the fastest leg.

Former Florida Gators star Kieran Smith was a late substitution for Team USA and ended up swimming the fastest leg. / Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

After former Florida Gator Bobby Finke won silver in the 800-meter freestyle, it didn’t take long for another Gator to win a silver medal. 

Kieran Smith (USA), as part of the 4x200-meter freestyle relay, won his first Olympic silver medal and second overall Olympic medal in his career. The anchor, Smith sealed a second-place finish with a swim time of 1:44.80, the fastest amongst his teammates.

The United States finished with an overall time of 7:00.78, more than a second behind gold medalist Great Britain but more than two seconds ahead of bronze medalist Australia.

Capping off the day with a relay medal 🫡#ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/N1pJVzCTnX

— Team USA (@TeamUSA) July 30, 2024

Smith originally wasn’t scheduled to swim as part of the relay team. He joined the relay team as a late substitution Tuesday morning. He first swam in the 400-meter freestyle but failed to make it out of the heats. 

Overall, he is the fourth-different Gator swimmer to earn a medal in Paris, joining Caeleb Dressel, Emma Weyant and Finke. Dressel won his eighth overall Olympic gold medal on Saturday in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay. Meanwhile, Weyant won her second Olympic medal with a bronze finish in the 400-meter individual medley. 

Finke won his third overall Olympic medal in his career on Tuesday in the 800-meter freestyle. 

All four medals won compose every medal won by a former or current UF athlete in this year’s games. If UF were competing as a country, it would rank No. 10 among the countries competing in Paris, two behind No. 9 Canada and one ahead of current No. 10 Hong Kong.