Michelle Smith in 1980. At aged 14, Smith won ten medals at the Irish National Swimming Championships. At 14, she became National Junior and Senior Champion and dominated Irish women's swimming until her retirement in 1998. Smith first appeared on the world scene as an 18-year-old at the Seoul Olympics and only narrowly missed the semi-finals (top 16). Smith's second major championship was at the 1991 World Championships in Perth, Australia, where she finished 13th in the 400 m individual medley. She competed at the 1991 European Championships and qualified for the 1992 Olympic Games. She competed in the 200 m medley
Sport in South Africa players who made it into the world top ten rankings are Wayne Ferreira, Amanda Coetzer and Kevin Anderson. In triathlon, Henri Schoeman is an Olympic bronze medallist, finishing third at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. Conrad Stoltz is a three-time Xterra Triathlon world champion, Raynard Tissink is a multiple Ironman champion, Hendrick de Villiers is an ITU World Cup winner, Richard Murray is an ITU World Triathlon Series race winner and Dan Hugo is an Xterra and multi-sport star. South Africa has a number of disabled athletes, most notably Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee world record holder at 200