LONDON — When the public-address announcer called Allison Schmitt’s name before her race Sunday at the Aquatics Centre in London’s Olympic Park, she strolled over to her spot at the edge of the pool like an old pro.
Which, in fact, she was.
Schmitt, a 22-year-old from Canton, won her second medal in as many tries in London, following a bronze in the 400-meter freestyle relay on Saturday night with one all her own — a silver in the 400 freestyle — on Sunday.
Schmitt’s time of 4 minutes, 1.77 seconds was just behind France’s Camille Muffat, who set an Olympic record of 4:01.45. Great Britain’s Rebecca Adlington, the gold medalist in Beijing in 2008, took the bronze in 4:03.01.
“I knew it would be close,” Schmitt said.
Especially after the morning preliminaries. Schmitt and Muffat swam against each other in the fifth, final and fastest heat. Muffat beat Schmitt by .02 second.
In the final, Schmitt, who swam in Lane 5, next to Muffat in Lane 4, was second behind the French champion after the first turn. She stayed on Muffat’s shoulder throughout the race. She made a charge in the final 50 meters but couldn’t gain enough to make a move for the lead.
“It was tough,” Schmitt said. “I could feel it, the pain coming in, but I was just hoping for the finish. Just kicking hard. Just like we do in practice every day.”
A smiling Schmitt accepted her medal in a gray Nike jacket and black pants, a standard look for the U.S. team, which won four medals in four finals Sunday. All three 400 freestyle medalists hugged before France’s national anthem was played.
A five-time NCAA champion swimmer at Georgia, Schmitt redshirted this season (she has a year of college eligibility remaining) to train at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club under Bob Bowman, her former coach with Club Wolverine, who also coaches Michael Phelps. She will return to Georgia this fall.
But first, the U.S. darling of middle distance will take a couple more cracks at gold.
She is schedule to race in the 200 free and the 800 free relay. (She won a bronze in the 800 relay at Beijing, just a few months after graduating from Canton High.)
Preliminaries for the 200 free are this morning, followed by semifinals in the later session and the final Tuesday. The relay prelims, which the team’s top swimmer traditionally skips, and the final are Wednesday.
The lead-up to all races will, in true Schmitt style, likely be low-key.
So can she bring home a medal in each?
“We’ll see tomorrow,” Schmitt said, before heading to cool down. “Or, in two days, I guess.”
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