Background
Theodore “TC” Smith was born March 24th, 1999 in Bowling Green, Ohio. He moved with his father in September 2010 to pursue swimming in Florida. His brother coaches for a local team. He currently swims for Sarasota Tsunami Swim Team under head coach Ira Klein.
Early Success/High School
TC tasted his first success as a 12 year old, dropping 26 seconds in the 1000 freestyle (10:23.20) to rank in the top 10 in the nation, and the fastest ever at that time in the Sarasota/Manatee Counties (Florida). As a freshman in High School, TC placed 3rd at the FHSAA Class2A HS Championships in the 500 freestyle. His time of 4:41.47 ranked him the second fastest freshman at the FHSAA meets (all classes (1A – 4A). In 2014 as a sophomore, he placed second dropping his time to 4:32.38. In 2015, as a Junior, he dropped 9 seconds to win the 500 freestyle at FHSAA States with a 4:23.91.
National/International Competition
Transitioning to Open water swimming makes sense for many distance swimmers, and TC is finding success there as well. In June of 2015, TC won the Southern Zone Open Water Championships in the 15-16 year old boys 5k.
At the 2015 USA Junior Nationals Long Course Meet not only did TC drop 10 seconds off his 1500 meter freestyle to swim a 15:42.07, the time also qualified him for Olympic Trials. .
At the Arena Pro Swim Series in Orlando March 3-5th, TC proved himself as one of the up and coming distance swimmers. He placed 14th in the 400 IM, 14th in the 400 Meter Free, and 7th in the 1500 Meter Free, dropping his time by 10 seconds to a 15:32.66.
Do not take your eyes of this kid!!