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Inducted 2006   Tom Smith grew up in Janesville, Wisconsin, and attended George S. Parker Senior High School, where he graduated in 1983. Smith swam all four years at Parker, advanced to the state meet twice, and captained the team as a senior.
Smith enrolled at Lake Forest College in the fall of 1983 and excelled on the Forester swimming & diving team each of his four years. The squad posted a 24-13 dual meet record during that time and captured a Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference championship in 1987. Smith captured five conference titles on his own and five more as part of relay teams. His victorious 50-freestyle and 100-butterfly times as both a junior and senior were conference records at the time and he graduated as the school record-holder in both events, as well as the 100-freestyle. He qualified to compete in the NCAA Division III National Championship Meet for the first time in his career as a sophomore and earned All-American honors by placing eighth in the 50-freestyle. As a junior he placed fourth at the national meet in the 50-freestyle and 13th in the 100-butterfly. He also finished 14th in the country in the 100-butterfly as a senior. Smith was named the Foresters’ Most Valuable Swimmer his final two seasons and a team captain as a senior. Smith graduated from the College in 1987 with a major in Computer Science. He later earned a Master’s Degree in the same field from DePaul University.
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