Caitlin Leverenz Smith (born February 26, 1991) is an American competition

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who specializes in

breaststroke Breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and that it can be s ...

and medley events. She won the bronze medal in the 200-meter individual medley event at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Early years

Leverenz was born in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. She attended

Sahuaro High School Sahuaro High School is a public high school located in Tucson, Arizona, United States, part of the Tucson Unified School District. It is located on the far east side of the city at 545 North Camino Seco, just north of Vicksburg Street between Br ...

in Tucson and was a member of the Sahauro Cougars High School swim team. She was one of the top college swimming recruits in the nation as a high school senior. She also trained with and swam for the El Dorado Aquatics Club in Tucson.

College career

Leverenz received an athletic scholarship to attend the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, where she swam for coach

Teri McKeever Teri McKeever (born c. 1962) is an American college and Olympic swimming coach. She has been the head coach of the California Golden Bears women's swimming team at the University of California, Berkeley, since 1993. Her Cal Bears teams have won ...

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

swimming and diving team in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) competition. At the NCAA national championships in 2011, she swam the breaststroke legs for the Golden Bears' winning relay teams in the 4x50-yard and 4x100-yard medley relay events; the Bears set a new American and NCAA record time of 1:35.03 in the 4x50 medley. At the 2012 NCAA national championships, she again was a member of the Bears' winning 4x50-yard and 4x100-yard medley relay teams, as well as winning individual national championships in the 200-yard individual medley and the 200-yard breaststroke events. She was a key contributor to the Golden Bears winning two NCAA national team championships in three years. She was the recipient of the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...

for Swimming and Diving, recognizing her as the outstanding college female swimmer of 2011–12.

International career

Leverenz represented the United States in Brazil for the World Youth Championships and in the

Mutual of Omaha Mutual of Omaha is a Fortune 500 mutual insurance and financial services company based in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1909 as Mutual Benefit Health & Accident Association, Mutual of Omaha is a financial organization offering a variety of insuranc ...

Duel in the Pool. She won the gold medal and broke the meet record in the 200-meter breaststroke at the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic Com ...

. At the

United States Swimming National Championships The United States Swimming National Championships (a.k.a. "Nationals") are held annually, in summer. The event is organized by USA Swimming, and is held in a long course (50m) pool. In the past, and as recently as 2007, there were 2 meets annually: ...

in 2007, she won the U.S. championship in the 400-meter individual medley. At the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials, she placed fourth in both the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley. She also finished third in the 200-meter breaststroke, just missing out on making the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team.

2012 Summer Olympics

At the 2012 United States Olympic Trials in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, Leverenz made the U.S. Olympic team by finishing first in the 200-meter individual medley and second in the 400-meter individual medley. She also competed in the 200-meter breaststroke, but finished in eighth place in the final. At the

in London, she won her first Olympic medal, a bronze, in the finals of the 200-meter individual medley. She also competed in the 400-meter individual medley, where she tied for sixth in the finals. After the 2012 Olympic Games Leverenz went on to represent the United States in many international competitions. At the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships she won a bronze medal in the 200-m individual medley. Leverenz went on to earn two gold medals at the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

in the 200-meter inidivual medley and 400-meter individual medley. Leverenz was also elected by her peers to be team captain of the 2015 Pan American Games Team. Leverenz was the top female American finisher the Arena Pro Swim Series, winning her a BMW lease, for the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 seasons. In her final career competition, Leverenz missed qualifying for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in the 200-m individual medley by .05 seconds. Leverenz retired from professional swimming in March 2017.

Personal life

Leverenz was born in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. She graduated from

in 2009 and then attended the

and swam for the

Women's Swimming and Diving team. Leverenz married Collin Smith, who played water polo at Cal, in January 2015. Their child, Logan, was born in July 2020. She is attending

Stanford Graduate School of Business The Stanford Graduate School of Business (also known as Stanford GSB) is the graduate business school of Stanford University, a private research university in Stanford, California. For several years it has been the most selective business schoo ...

, where she expects to complete her

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

in spring 2020.

References

* *

External links

*
archive
* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leverenz, Caitlin 1991 births Living people American female breaststroke swimmers American female medley swimmers California Golden Bears women's swimmers Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in swimming Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Sportspeople from Tucson, Arizona Swimmers at the 2007 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games medalists in swimming Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games 21st-century American women