Michelle Smith

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Medal record
Michelle Smith
Women’s Swimming
Competitor for  Ireland
Olympic Games
Gold	1996 Atlanta	400m Freestyle
Gold	1996 Atlanta	200m Individual Medley
Gold	1996 Atlanta	400m Individual Medley
Bronze	1996 Atlanta	200m Butterfly
European Championships (LC)
Gold	1995 Vienna	200m Butterfly
Gold	1995 Vienna	200m Individual Medley
Silver	1995 Vienna	400m Individual Medley
Gold	1997 Seville	200m Freestyle
Gold	1997 Seville	400m Individual Medley
Silver	1997 Seville	400m Freestyle
Silver	1997 Seville	200m Butterfly

Michelle Smith (born December 16, 1969 in Rathcoole, County Dublin), now more commonly referred to by her married name, Michelle de Bruin, is an Irish former swimmer. She was a triple gold medallist at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, for the 400 m individual medley, 400 m freestyle and 200 m individual medley. She also won the bronze medal for the 200 m butterfly event.

Some deal of controversy followed the victories, particularly after U.S. swimmer Janet Evans at a press conference accused Smith of doping immediately following Evans' defeat. None of these accusations were ever proven.

She later received a four year suspension in 1998 after being found guilty of tampering with a urine sample. The ban was imposed after a urine sample taken during a routine random drug test was found to be contaminated with alcohol, though this was not explained then or since.^[1] While there was no question of her being stripped of her medals, this suspension greatly sullied her record and achievements.

[edit] Career

Smith's first major championship was competing in the 200 m medley and backstroke and 400 m medley in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. In 1993 she came under the wing of Erik de Bruin, Dutch shot and discus record holder, whom she had met in Barcelona. With new training techniques she finished fifth in the 200m butterfly at the 1994 World Championships.

In 1995 Smith set Irish records in 50 m, 100 m, 400 m and 800 m freestyle, 100 m backstroke, 100 m and 200 m butterfly, and 200 m and 400 m medley events. She was ranked number 1 in 200 m butterfly, sixth in 100 m butterfly and seventh in 200 m medley; she made sporting history by becoming the first Irishwoman to win a European title in 200 m butterfly and the individual 400 m medley in the same year.

She was single-handedly responsible for Ireland's second largest ever medal haul at one Olympics. Originally her application to compete at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta was rejected but later accepted on appeal. Smith's unexpected success led to hints from other swimmers of possible foul play, most notably the American Janet Evans, but these were not substantiated at the time. Much of the suspicion stemmed from the fact that Erik de Bruin, by this time her husband, had served a four-year ban during his discus career after testing positive for illegal levels of testosterone. Also in 1996 and 1997, the International Swimming Federation (FINA) had concerns about Smith's unavailability for random out-of-competition testing. Her submitted training schedule was left totally blank, apart from her name and nationality, making it difficult to predict her movements.^[2]

Two years after the Atlanta Games, FINA banned Smith for four years.^[1] Although she was banned for tampering with her urine sample using alcohol, the testers also found traces of a metabolic precursor of testosterone,^[3] Androstenedione.^[4][5] While she was not stripped of her medals, she lost most of her popularity. She was 28 at the time, and the ban effectively ended her competitive swimming career.

Smith appealed the ban, but it was upheld. Her experiences at the Court of Arbitration for Sport had an effect beyond her swimming career. It was there that she developed an interest in the law; after officially announcing her retirement from swimming in 1999, she returned to university, graduating from University College Dublin with a degree in law. In July 2005 she was conferred with the degree of Barrister at Law of King's Inns, Dublin. While a student at the King's Inns she won the highly prestigious internal Moot Court competition.

In October 2007 Michelle took part in Celebrities Go Wild for the Irish Charity People In Need and refused to appear on The Late Late Show before the show began because she didn't want to be questioned about her swimming ban. She later finished second in the series.

[edit] See also

• List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences

[edit] References