Schoolgirl swimmer is England’s next Sharron Davies after Commonwealth silver

Jeremy WilsonTue, July 28, 2026 at 1:15 PM UTC

0

Amalie Smith is through to the final of the 200m individual medley after winning silver in the 400m - Andrew Milligan/PA

A schoolgirl from Tonbridge in Kent has evoked comparisons with Sharron Davies after moving to the verge of a second Commonwealth Games medal at the age of just 16.

Like Davies, Amalie Smith specialises in the 400m and 200m individual medley and produced arguably the performance of Monday night’s swimming programme by striking silver in what was her first international final.

Finishing second behind Jenna Forrester, a 23-year-old Australian with the pedigree of two World Championship medals, Smith swam magnificently to finish in a time of 4min 33.70sec, which is already within sight of Hannah Miley’s British record that has stood since 2009.

Equally impressive was how Smith was then up and in the pool on Tuesday morning to win her heat in the shorter 200m individual medley before a final the same day at 7.39pm. Her qualifying time of 2min 11.38sec was the third fastest, narrowly behind Forrester again and also South Africa’s Aimee Canny.

Davies was even younger at 15 when she won double Commonwealth Games gold in 1978 in the same medley events – which require swimming butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle – before then taking silver in the 400m at the Moscow Olympics. The East German “winner” Petra Schneider later admitted to being part of a state-sponsored doping programme but Davies has never been formally upgraded to gold because of the International Olympic Committee’s 10-year statute of limitations.

Smith, who attends the Weald of Kent Grammar School in Tonbridge, trains at the RTW Monson Swimming Club in Tunbridge Wells and is coached by Karen Bradbury.

Advertisement

She also won gold recently at the World Junior Championship and admitted that she was in disbelief after marking her international debut with a medal.

“I can’t quite believe it, to be honest,” said Smith. “I can’t even express my emotions with words. I’m so happy and I did such a great time.

“I came in here thinking I would love to get a medal, but to actually achieve it is incredible. Going in I was quite nervous, but as soon as I dived in I was fine. It was just like any other event I’ve been to.” She said that her progression had been helped by never focusing too far into the future. “I think it’s just not getting ahead of myself and, actually, taking a step back and making sure that you realise how much you have achieved,” she said. “It’s about just thinking about things that are realistic and doing them progressively and using this as a learning experience.”

Ellie Simmonds, a five-time Paralympic champion, including in the individual medley, said that it was important to see young British female sprinters with the potential on the global stage. Adam Ramsay-Peaty, Duncan Scott, Matt Richards and Tom Dean have all won individual Olympic medals in recent years. No British woman has won an individual Olympic medal since Siobhan Marie O’Connor in 2016 and the last gold medallist was Rebecca Adlington in 2008.

“They’ve been very dominant on the men’s side but finally we’re seeing the girls’ side catch up,” said Simmonds, a pundit for TNT Sports.

“It’s very important to have the next generation of athletes. Especially Amalie Smith, this is her senior debut.

“I’ve seen in interviews she dreams of the Olympics, so to come here, at the Commonwealth Games, and have this experience of not just competing against the likes of the Australians, but also with distractions – there are multiple sporting events happening, different athletes – so for her to go out there and swim as fast as she can and get a silver medal, that will give her so much confidence.”

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Sports”