Happy Is Fast: How Veteran Leanne Smith Keeps Setting Records At 38

Breaking a world record always feels good, whether someone else’s or your own.

For U.S. Para swimming veteran Leanne Smith, breaking her world record in the women’s 100-meter freestyle S3 at the Para Pan Pacific Championships at the end of August in Walnut, California, reinforced that her training is right where it needs to be. 

“Sticking to the plan is working, and it gives me more confidence to lean into the process,” the two-time Paralympian said. “And whether you’re breaking someone else’s record or setting the standard, you always want to hope no one will break it, but that’s not reality, so any time I can lower mine I’m happy with that.”

Smith has made something of a habit of taking down her own records this summer. At one meet in August, she actually took down three of her American women’s S3 records all in the same race.

“Which is definitely unconventional,” said Smith, 38. “It’s not a norm.”

Smith was swimming in her hometown of Beverly, Massachusetts, as her home pool, the Greater Beverly YMCA, hosted the John H. Ogden Northeast Para Open. The meet was just before Para Pan Pacs, and Smith didn’t want to compete in any events that she planned to race in California, so she decided to swim the mile.

“It’s more than I typically swim in practice, so it was a little intimidating, but once I got into the groove of it in the race I found myself actually really enjoying it,” she said. “I was really happy when I got to the wall and saw the improvement in my times.”

Over the course of the mile, Smith lowered her record in the 400-meter freestyle from 8:02.29 to 6:53.99. Then she toppled her 800-meter freestyle record by more than two minutes. Finally, she lowered her record in the 1,500-meter freestyle by three and a half minutes. 

Even better was the fact that her 7-year-old and two 4-year-old nieces were there to see it.

“They’re probably my biggest supporters and cheerleaders, so it was cool to have them in that atmosphere for the first time,” she said. “It was a special moment when they got to see me swim.”

Smith nearly retired following the Paralympic Games Paris 2024. She was burned out and had certainly accomplished enough, with two gold and three silver medals over her Paralympic career, to leave on top. But she didn’t want to walk away from a sport she’d loved for so long on those terms. Instead, she returned determined to rediscover the joy in swimming and to train in a way that worked for her and her body. She and her coach decided they’d take it slow and use the approach that less is more and stress quality over quantity.

At the 2025 world championships, Smith won seven medals, including three gold, tying Katie Kubiak as the most decorated U.S. swimmer. She’s remained at the forefront of her classification ever since. Next year, if all goes according to plan, she’ll return to the world championships but this time with a lot more on the line than usual. 

In 2027, for the first time ever, anyone who wins gold at the world championships will earn an automatic spot in the Paralympics. Not a quota spot that anyone on their team might use, but an actual personal place at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

“It would be oh so lovely to know you’ve secured your spot a year in advance rather than six weeks,” Smith said.

That enticement is likely to bring out an even higher level of competition than is usually seen at the world championships, she believes, but Smith will be ready. And no matter what happens, she plans to spend these next two years enjoying the process and having fun. 

“I’m finding out that happy swimmers are fast swimmers,” she said. “That’s our little motto and, again, continues to prove our method and how we’re approaching training and what we’re doing, although unconventional for most, is working for me both mentally and physically. I just want to go out having fun swimming and that’s really my goal heading into L.A.”

Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic and Paralympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to USParaSwimming.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.