Michelle Smith (born in December 16, 1969, Rathcoole County Dublin, now more commonly referred to by her married name, Michelle de Bruin) is an Irish swimmer. She was a triple Gold medallist at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, for the 400m individual medley, 400m freestyle and 200m individual medley. She also won the Bronze medal for the 200m Butterfly event. She was single-handedly responsible for Ireland's second largest ever medal haul at one Olympics. Smith's unexpected success led to accusations of possible foul play from other swimmers, but these were not substantiated. Much of the suspicion stemmed from the fact that her husband and coach, Erik de Bruin, had served a four-year ban during his discus career after testing positive for illegal levels of testosterone.
Two years after the Atlanta Games FINA, the international governing body for swimming, banned Smith for four years. A common misconception is that she tested positive for a banned substance; in fact, the ban was imposed after a urine sample taken during a routine random drug test was found to be contaminated with alcohol.
Smith appealed the ban, but it was upheld. However, her experiences at the Court of Arbitration for Sport had an affect beyond her swimming career. It was there that she developed an interest in the law; after officially announcing her retirement from swimming in 1999, she returned to university, graduating from University College Dublin with a degree in law.
