Olivia Smoliga poolside. (Photo by Elizabeth Smoliga)

When Olivia Smoliga pushes off the starting blocks in the 100-meter backstroke in the Rio Summer Games, she knows she’ll both exude confidence and endure nervousness.

The two emotions are prerequisites for a championship swimmer like Glenview’s Smoliga, competing in her first Olympics.

“I’ll still get butterflies, for sure. I always do,” Smoliga said from San Antonio, Texas, where she completed her training for Rio after qualifying for Team USA at the June trials in Omaha.

“And when I get butterflies, I know I’ll swim well because my adrenalin is pumping and I’m ready to race. But I think now I’m more confident than ever, having such a bad sophomore year in college (at Georgia) and now coming out of my junior year and being pretty successful. Making the Olympic team was my dream forever, so now that I’ve made it, I know I’m worthy of being on this team, and worthy of competing for team USA.

“The confidence overrides the nervousness at this point.”

Smoliga’s story is as much about her journey to Team USA than an actual gold-medal prospect. This summer is her time to shine. Four years ago, a perky prep champion, she finished fourth in the 100 backstroke at the Omaha trials, falling short of her Olympic-team goal.

Olivia is mobbed by fans. (Photo by Elizabeth Smoliga)

But like a long line of individual and team champions, sometimes failure is a necessary antecedent to success.

A battle-tested Southeastern Conference veteran Smoliga is much better prepared to knife through the water in reverse than her high-school junior self to handle the stresses of reaching Rio. In 2012, she hadn’t lifted a single weight nor gone through sophisticated training sessions as is standard at a major collegiate swimming program.

“It was really tough four years ago,” she said. “It was heartbreaking. It was hard coming up short, finishing fourth. But it’s beneficial to me now, because I really didn’t know the value of hard work until I went to college. Weightlifting, training. It was all so new to me when I went to Georgia. So I am really glad I had that hard work, international experience, competitive experience before I went to my second Olympic trials.

“The (Olympic team members) coming straight out of high school are incredible athletes nonetheless. The collegiate athletes are a little more reliable. They’ve been under pressure before at SEC’s or conference championships or national championships. In that sense, putting in the hard work with a college team is a little bit different and gives you a bit more experience the older you are.”

Smoliga qualified for Rio with a 100 time of 59:02, beating out previous Olympic gold medalists Missy Franklin and Natalie Coughliln. Four-time gold medalist Franklin, now her Olympic teammate, had been one of Smoliga’s favorite swimmers as she rose in the sport.

Success and setbacks at Georgia had toughened Smoliga for the bright lights for Omaha and beyond.

As a Georgia freshman, she won gold in the 50 freestyle and bronze in the 400 medley relay at the 2014 NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships. But a bout of mononucleosis in her sophomore year slowed her down. Still retaining her spot on the national team, Smoliga won silver in the 100 backstroke at the 2015 Pan Am Games. Her time of 1:00.06 was her third-fastest ever.

The Smoliga family at the Olympic Trials in Omaha (from left) brother Matt, Olivia, mother Elizabeth and father Tom. (Photo by Elizabeth Smoliga)

“I think I’ve always been competitive in high school,” Smoliga said. “But I think it’s so much more special when you’re part of a team like Georgia. It really did spark my competitive nature a little more. It allowed me to put myself on the line to score points for my team. Just being around the great athletes and coaches at Georgia helped me throughout trials. Working a little bit harder each year made the difference.”

Experienced Olympians like Franklin help push Smoliga in practices in San Antonio.

“I’m able to train with girls I’ve looked up to,” she said. “It’s really fun to be racing them every day at practice. I’ve been training really hard back in college, and now putting all the pieces together to make sure everything comes together by the time the Games come around.”

She has assembled “Team Smoliga” through a slew of high school and college tournaments, Olympic trials and now the Rio Games. Parents Tom and Elizabeth Smoliga emigrated from Poland in 1991. Younger brother Matt likes water of the frozen kind — he is a hockey player.

“First and foremost we are beyond proud of her!” said Elizabeth Smoliga. “Making the Olympic Team had been Olivia’s dream for as long as we can remember. It was that ultimate goal that we always told her she could achieve if she worked hard and stayed focused. As much as it was our belief that it is possible, it was definitely Olivia’s determination and work ethic, further developed at Georgia, that made it happen this time around.

“Being part of the best swim programs in the country with the best coaching staff, facilities and resources available was the key in this long process. Becoming an Olympian is life-changing. That achievement is Olivia’s to keep for the rest of her life and we as parents couldn’t be more happy and content with that.”

Olympic swimmers like Conor Dwyer, hailing from one suburb over from Smoliga in Winnetka, know where their family is situated in the stands during meets. Dwyer pointed to his parents after winning in Omaha. Smoliga also will spot her kinfolk, in due course. But coming out of the water, she is decompressing from a laser-focused state.

“You got to really stay in your lane and focus on yourself,” Smoliga said. “You want to do the best you possibly can. If you focus on yourself rather than worrying what everyone else is doing, you’re going to have a better race in the end. You can’t really see very well in backstroke other than the turn itself.

“In the Olympics, I’m going to try to swim my own race.”
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— Hard work pays off for Olympics qualifier Smoliga —