Swimmer Leah Smith was a favorite to return to the Olympic stage for much of the past five years, but the 26-year-old was unable to pull out the swims she needed this week in Omaha. Smith missed the 800m freestyle final in Friday’s heats, her final opportunity to make the team.
Smith won the 400m freestyle bronze at her debut in Rio, which was won by countrywoman Katie Ledecky, and then continued to lead the way domestically and internationally in distance freestyle races with Ledecky.
While Ledecky has already made the Tokyo team in three individual events and is on track to qualify in the 800m free as well, Smith came up short in all four of her events.