Athens Bulldogs’ Olivia Smoliga won the Women’s 50 backstroke on the second night of the TYR Pro Swim Series in Knoxville with a time of 27.85. She is also the Pro Swim Series, American and U.S. Open record holder in this event with a 27.43 from April of 2018.

After capturing eight gold medals at the 2018 FINA Short Course World Championships, the win was not surprising to many. Smoliga, however, explained how she is still re-adjusting to the long course format after her successful run in the shorter pool.

She also talked about her favorite moments from the meet outside of the pool, including how Caeleb Dressel switched shoes with her on the podium, racing against men and what went into deciding the order of a historic 200 mixed medley relay victory.