Michelle Smith de Bruin (born 16 December 1969)[1] is an Irish lawyer and retired Olympic swimmer.

Smith's rise to dominance in the 1995 European Championships, followed by her wins in Atlanta, all at a relatively advanced age for swimmers, were marked by allegations of doping that were never proven.

[4] Despite the ban for manipulating samples, none of Smith's swimming achievements were shown to have been as a result of using performance enhancers and, therefore, not annulled, so she remains Ireland's most successful Olympian.

[5] Smith first appeared on the world scene as an 18-year-old at the Seoul Olympics and narrowly missed the B-final in the 200 m backstroke (top 16).

There was controversy at the Games due to Smith qualifying for the 400m freestyle event at the expense of the then-world record holder Janet Evans, who had finished ninth in the preliminary swims with only the top eight advancing.

[8] In April 1998, an exclusive by Craig Lord in The Times newspaper broke the news that Smith faced an anti-doping challenge.

[12] FINA submitted evidence from Jordi Segura, head of the IOC-accredited laboratory in Barcelona, that Smith took androstenedione, a metabolic precursor of testosterone, in the previous 10-to-12 hours before being tested.

Her coach and husband, Erik De Bruin, previously served a four-year ban for using illegal drugs during his career as a discus thrower.

While a student at the King's Inns she won the internal Brian Walsh Moot Court competition.

In 1993 Smith began training with Dutch discus thrower Erik de Bruin, whom she had met in Barcelona.

While Smith technically remains Ireland's most successful Olympian, male or female and also still technically holds Irish records for the 200m and 400m freestyle, 200m butterfly, 400m individual medley (long course) and the 400m individual medley (short course) the legitimacy of her achievements is strongly debated in Irish sporting circles.