Olympic medalist Regan Smith credits sports psychologist with taking her swimming to the 'next level'

American swimmer Regan Smith tells Fox News Digital about the sense of pride she feels being able to represent the U.S. at the Olympics for a second time.

Regan Smith will compete in her second Summer Olympics next month with a new mindset, one that will hopefully help the 22-year-old American swimmer earn her first Olympic gold medal. 

Smith’s journey to Paris saw her medal in three individual events at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Indianapolis last month. She broke the world record in the women’s 100-meter backstroke, reclaiming the title she previously had in 2019 when she broke the record at just 17.

Regan Smith competes in the women's 200-meter butterfly during the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on June 19, 2024. (Al Bello/Getty Images)

After the event, Smith said it was a "long time coming." For the past several years, the Olympic medalist had seemingly struggled with the mental side of her sport, which held her back from seeing the same success she once did five years ago. 

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But something changed in Smith’s approach, and she’ll be going for gold in the women’s 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke and the 200-meter butterfly.

Speaking to Fox News Digital, Smith opened up about her mental health journey. 

"I, for a long time, I drank the Kool-Aid of the stigma around mental health. I didn't want to have a sports psychologist. I didn’t want to talk about it. I thought you were weak, or I thought I was weak. And so the feelings that I had, I tried to shove inside and ignore them, and it festered and exploded. And I had a really hard couple of years as an athlete." 

But one day, that changed.

"I kind of faced the music, looked in the