Helen Smart, a former Olympic swimmer for Great Britain in 2000, was found dead at 42 by her 4-year-old daughter on early Saturday morning in a tragic scene.
Smart’s daughter Heidi found her mother unresponsive at 4 a.m. at a large cottage off the banks of Lake Coniston in Northwest England, the Daily Mail reported.
“Heidi had woken up in the night and tried to get into bed with her. She said to her daddy: ‘Mummy won’t wake up,’ Smart’s mother, Linda, told the Daily Mail.
“He said: ‘Oh she must be very tired Heidi — you go back to bed.'”
Smart, a mother of two, went to sleep around midnight Friday, hours after paddle boarding at dusk.
Helen Smart was found dead at 42. PA Images via Getty Images
Smart’s cause of death is still unknown according to police. Facebook / Helen SmartAt 4 a.m., Smart’s brother Robert woke up their parents and said, “Mum, dad you need to keep up — we think Helen’s died.”
Smart’s mom said she ran into the room.
“I touched her foot and she was cold. I walked round and to the side of her and she looked asleep but you could tell she was gone.”
No details about the cause of her death have surfaced, but the family called it very sudden.
“We are just in so much shock. You jump from believing it to not believing it. … We’re distraught. They don’t know what it is but they think it must have happened shortly after she went to bed. She just died in her sleep.”
Smart went to work as a school principal after her Olympic career. Facebook / John Don-Duncan
Smart was known for her backstroke. Getty ImagesSmart, who was previously known by her maiden name Don-Duncan, was the British backstroke champion in the late 1990s, competing in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.
She finished 15th at the Sydney Games in the 200-meter backstroke.
Following the 2000 Olympics, Smart retired from competitive swimming and began a career in education.
Police said that Smart was found by her four-year-old daughter Heidi. Facebook / Helen SmartAt the time of her death, Smart was the headteacher at Worsley Mesnes Community Primary School in Wigan, England.
“She loved the school, staff, children, and parents so much,” her husband, Craig Smart, wrote on Facebook. “She was so proud to reach her goal of being Head Teacher. She used to say to me all the time she could never see herself at another school. She was Worsley Mesnes through and through! I remember only last week she said her goal was to get the school to outstanding and that she had the right staff to achieve this!”
