Kelowna's Kierra Smith will take to the pool on Wednesday morning at the Olympic Games in Rio in the third heat of the women's 200 metre breaststroke.

The top 16 swimmers from the four heats will move on to the semi-finals on Wednesday night.

The final in the 200 metre breaststroke is set for Thursday night.

The strongest of her two events, Smith is ranked 14th in the world and will be looking to improve on her personal best time of 2:22.82.

Smith won a gold medal and set a games record in the 200 breaststroke last year at the Pan Am Games in Toronto.

On Saturday in Rio, in her first Olympic appearance, Smith competed in the 100 breaststroke and placed seventh in her heat and 19th overall in a time of 1:07.41.

Coached locally by Emil Dimitrov, Smith is a member of the Liquid Lightning Swim Club and the University of Minnesota Gophers swim team.