Ridgefield Swimmer to Compete at the 2021 Olympics

With Olympic Fever ready to spread across the country, there's a local reason to be getting pretty excited about the Toyko games.

Looks like there will be a lot of local interest during the Olympic games that start on Friday. For us here in Connecticut, all eyes will be on the 5 athletes and the one Paralympian athlete representing our country.

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The athletes from Connecticut who will be competing will be Rowers Liam Corrigan and Austin Hack from Old Lyme, Alyssa Naeher from Stratford who's a goalie on the women's soccer team, Skateboarder Alexis Sablone from Old Saybrook, Paralympics swimmer Matthew Torres from Ansonia, and Ridgefield swimmer Kieran Smith.

All eyes in Ridgefield will be on swimmer Kieran Smith who qualified for the Toyko games back in June at the Olympic trials in Omaha, and will represent the United States competing in three different Olympic swimming events.

Smith, who is a Ridgefield High School graduate and swimming standout for the school, now swims for the University of Florida, and this year qualified for the Olympics for the first time.

Ridgefield has a history of sending swimmers to the Olympics. Kieran is the second Ridgefield High School alumni to qualify. Back in 1988 Janel Jorgensen won two gold medals at the PAN American games and was part of the U.S. contingent at the Seoul Olympics.

According to wtnh.com, Governor Ned Lamont, proud of the local athletes who will be representing our country, released this statement of support:

I wish them all the best, and I can guarantee that there will be a strong contingent of us back home in Connecticut who will be cheering them on while they compete in Tokyo.

Here's a look at the road that led Ridgefield's Kieran Smith from Greater Danbury to the Toyko Olympics.