Athlete of the Week: Brady Smith

Senior varsity swimmer Brady Smith qualified for the Kansas 6A State Swim and Dive Championship after participating in his first meet of the year. He swam a 100 meter breaststroke with a time of 1:03:38, a 100 meter freestyle with a time of 50.78, a 50 meter freestyle with a time of 22.88. His medley relay time of 1:39.95 and a 200 free relay with a time of 1:28.32 are both first in the state.

When did you start swimming?

“I started swimming when I was 5 or 6 years old. I swam for the Leawood swim team that was down the street from my house.”

What drew you to swim?

“I think my mom signed me up one summer. She signed me up for every sport and that just happened to be one of them. And I ended up being pretty good at it. My grandpa swam and I was above average so I kept swimming because I wasn’t that good at any other sports.”

How long have you been on the East team and which ones?

“I’ve been on the varsity team since sophomore year, and I was on junior varsity my freshman year.”

What’s your favorite part about swimming?

“I love competing against other teams and being around the people. It’s like a family. You really make a bunch of friends which makes it super fun.”

How does this year compare to other years?

“Since we don’t have team captains, the seniors lead the group instead of having one specific captain. It’s different for me because I’m on all the relays because last year I only swam one event at state, and this year I’ll be swimming four. So there’s a lot of change with practice and such.”

What are your future plans for swimming?

“I’d like to swim in college. I need to see if the schools I’m going to have swim teams, but I’d definitely like to do that.”

What is your biggest strength and weakness when it comes to swimming?

“My biggest weaknesses are backstroke and distance swimming. I don’t have much stamina when it comes to swimming. My strengths are swimming breaststrokes and sprints.”

What did it take to make it to State?

“It took practice in the off-season. I swam for a club called Aquatics during the summer, which I didn’t do previously. I would usually just swim for Leawood’s swim team, so the extra practice really got me in better shape and allowed me to get a State cut the first meet of the year.”

What are you most looking forward to at State?

“I’m looking forward to winning State. As well as seeing all the underclassmen with buzzed heads — I think that will be pretty funny. I’m really looking forward to our relays because we have some really good ones that are ranked top three and two. We’re expecting it to be pretty competitive which is exciting.”