Olympic medalist Regan Smith wears USA swim cap with pride ahead of Paris: 'I'm so proud to be American'

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.

U.S. swimmer Regan Smith is an Olympic medalist, a world record holder, a world champion and even an adoring cat owner. But the 22-year-old former Stanford swimmer might best describe herself as a proud American. 

Smith qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris after her dominating performance in the women’s 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke and the 200-meter fly at the recent U.S. Olympic Swimming Team Trials in Indianapolis. She set the world record in the 100-meter. 

Regan Smith looks on after the women's 100-meter backstroke semifinal at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on June 17, 2024. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

She described it as a "gratifying" experience, one that has again given her the chance to wear a swim cap with the American flag alongside her name.

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Ahead of her second appearance in the Summer Olympics, Smith told Fox News Digital that she first got the opportunity to represent the U.S. when she was 15. 

"It almost moved me to tears," she said.

"I had such a strong sense of pride, and I was getting up behind the blocks, and I wasn't just swimming for me, I was swimming for the entire country behind me, who had my back and who wanted me to succeed."

In Smith’s retelling of this moment, she didn’t make mention of medals or records, just the pride she felt. 

"It was just incredible to swim for something that was so much bigger than yourself. And I think that helped take some of the pressure off of me as well, because I was like, 'I just want to do this