Regan Smith wins silver medal in the 200-meter butterfly at the Paris Olympics

Lakeville swimmer Regan Smith won her fourth Olympic silver medal on Thursday, finishing second to 17-year-old Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh in the 200-meter butterfly at the Paris Olympics.

It was her second silver medal in three days after coming behind her Australian rival Kaylee McKeown in the 100 backstroke on Tuesday.

But Smith, 22 and in her second Olympics, is not getting caught up in the color of medals anymore.

“To be honest I don’t want to think about what it means to win gold against silver,” she told reporters Thursday. “If you get too wrapped up in your head about that, you are never going to be happy. I want to be proud of myself regardless. It’s a cliche answer, but it is true.

“If this had happened three years ago, I would have been gutted and it would have affected my mental health for a long time. And it did.”

Smith won silver in this same race three years ago in the Tokyo Olympics, along with bronze in the 100 backstroke and a silver in the women’s medley relay.

She struggled with her confidence for a long time after Tokyo, she said. She no longer wanted to swim one of her signature events, the 200 backstroke, because it terrified her.

But after about two years training under renowned coach Bob Bowman, Smith was in top form heading into Paris. So, of course, was her competition.

McIntosh has now won three medals at these Olympics, after taking gold in the 400 individual medley and silver in the 400 freestyle.

Zhang Yufei, of China, who won the 200 fly in Tokyo, led the first half of the race, but McIntosh made her charge in the third 50. Smith tried to chase her down, using an incredible final turn, and finished in an American record time of 2 minutes, 3.84 seconds, behind McIntosh’s Olympic record of 2:03.03.

“I am super proud of that performance,” Smith said. “I didn’t know if I was capable of a 2:03 tonight, so I am thrilled with it.”

She added: “I knew that I’d be in the conversation for gold, but I literally cannot ask any more of myself in that race. I’m so proud of that race. It was all I can do. I’m very happy for Summer as well, that’s a great time.”

And Smith wasn’t done for the night. She still had a semifinal in the 200 backstroke, her third race of the day.

About 50 minutes after her butterfly, she advanced to the 200 backstroke final with the sixth-fastest time of 2:08.14. She also had the sixth fastest time in the morning preliminary heat, 2:09.61.

Her American teammate Phoebe Bacon had the top semifinal time of 2:07.32. McKeown, the defending champion and world record holder, was second at 2:07.57. The final is Friday at 1:36 p.m. Central time.

“I always believe in good, better, best,” Smith said. “A good prelim, better semi, getting into a decent lane for the final, then giving it everything you’ve got for the final.”

Smith finished second to McKeown at last year’s world championships in the 200 back and came into the Olympics ranked No. 2 in the world in the event, even after shunning it for so long.

It will be her last chance in Paris for her first individual gold medal. Not that she’s worrying about that.

“I’m going to keep fighting like hell,” Smith said. “If I walk away with a gold medal, excellent. If I don’t, I’m still me and I’m just fine.”

The Star Tribune did not send the writer of this article to the game. This was written using a broadcast, interviews and other material.