[1] Her father Noel Smith emigrated to the United States from Trinidad and became a doctor after earning a scholarship to attend Howard University.
She separated from Sloane's father, professional American football player John Stephens, in 1994 after he was arrested multiple times.
With a finish in the top eight, she was named a first-team All-American and became the first African-American female swimmer in Division I to achieve this feat.
[5] Smith won the Mildred Barnes award for the university's outstanding woman athlete in 1987 and 1988, becoming the first person to receive this honor twice.
[5] After finishing college, Smith attended graduate school at Harvard University where she studied to become a psychologist.