2021 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Thursday, December 16th – Tuesday, December 21st
- Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- SCM (25m)
- Prize Money
- Meet Site
- Psych Sheet
- Live Results
Rebecca Smith swam her way to a silver medal and a new Canadian national record in the women’s 200 freestyle at the 2021 Short Course World Championships. Smith posted a 1:52.24 for second place, downing the former national record of 1:52.50 that Taylor Ruck set back in 2016 at this meet.
Smith managed to get her hand on the wall ahead of everyone but victor Siobhan Haughey who swam a 1:50.31 to take gold and set a new world record in the event.
Split Comparison
| Smith – 2021 | Ruck – 2016 | |
| 50 | 26.35 | 26.36 |
| 100 | 54.45 (28.10) | 55.02 (28.66) |
| 150 | 1:23.19 (28.74) | 1:23.74 (28.72) |
| 200 | 1:52.24 (29.05) | 1:52.50 (28.76) |
Prior to this meet, Smith had a PB of 1:52.92 in the 200 freestyle from back in 2020 and got down to a 1:52.86 in prelims to tie Siobhan Haughey for 1st heading into the final. In the final Haughey and Smith were joined on the podium by bronze medalist Paige Madden of the USA who swam a 1:53.01.
Rebecca Smith has been a familiar face on the Canadian national team for several years, having raced for the country at the 2015 World Junior Championships. There she won a silver in the 4×200 freestyle and a bronze in the 4×100 freestyle. She has since won 9 more major international medals across the 2018 Commonwealth Games, 2017 and 2019 World Championships, 2018 Pan Pacs, and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
This silver medal, however, represents Smith’s first individual medal in swimming. Smith recently left her longtime training base in Toronto, Ontario, the High-Performance Centre led by coach Ben Titley. She now swims in her home bronze of Alberta at the University of Calgary.