Regan Smith couldn’t leave the 2024 Olympics without one last memorable swim.

The Lakeville native kicked off the women’s 4×100 medley relay Sunday — the final event in the pool to conclude the indoor swimming portion of the Olympics — with one more backstroke leg.

She crushed it.

Smith swam the first 100 in 57.28 seconds — which only missed her current World Record mark by 15 hundredths — to spark the United States to a gold-medal winning relay time of 3 minutes, 49.63 seconds, a new world record in the event.

The U.S. bested second-place Australia by 3.5 seconds.

Smith’s backstroke leg marks a new Olympic record in the 100 backstroke, edging the previous best time of 57.33 seconds set by Australia’s Kaylee McKeown en route to her gold medal finish in the event final earlier in the Games. Smith topped McKeown by nearly a half second on Sunday, setting the tone for a historic American team swim.

The relay marks Smith’s second Olympic gold, but likely the most memorable. The first one came Saturday, as a result of the U.S. mixed medley relay winning gold without Smith in the final after she swam a prelim leg.

On Sunday, Smith was an important player in the final, and got to experience firsthand the joy of the celebration and standing atop the podium to hear the anthem.

It was a fitting conclusion to the Olympics for Smith, who put together one phenomenal swim after another. She rose to the occasion in each event. The only two swimmers who bested her in the Games — McKeown in the backstroke events and Canada’s Summer McIntosh in the 200 fly — are all-timers.

Even in those races, Smith was excellent. She noted after each performance how proud she was of her swims and how — in her evolution as a person and competitor — she would no longer get overly wrapped up in the color of the medal. It’s not a healthy way to live and, in the past, ruined her relationship with the sport.

And when everything is said and done, Smith may be viewed in a similar light as the likes of McIntosh, McKeown and other titans. She notched five medals in these games and has amassed eight career Olympic medals to date and, should she choose to remain in competitive swimming as expected, will be just 26 years old when the 2028 Olympics come to Los Angeles.

In France, Smith never stopped smiling and enjoying the moment. But she was clearly beaming just a tad brighter on the pool deck after leading the U.S. to relay gold on Sunday. Minutes later, she shed a few tears as she stood atop the podium.

So much work — mental and physical — went into Smith putting herself in this position. It’s nice to enjoy the payoff.

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