Although he was born in Scotland, Graeme Smith was raised in the north of England and spoke without any sign of a Scottish accent. In 1994 he represented Scotland in the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada where he was a finalist in both the 400 and 1,500 metre freestyles. His championship début for Great Britain came in Vienna at the 1995 European Championship where he came agonizingly close to pulling off a major upset by beating title holder and former world record holder Jörg Hoffmann but was beaten to the gold medal by less than a second over the 1,500 metre distance. Smith qualified for the Olympic final in Atlanta with the second fastest time but struggled as the two Australians blazed the pace from the start of the race. In the later stages of the race he moved into the silver medal position but was outsprinted by Daniel Kowalski over the last 50 metres and took home the bronze.
His form dipped after 1996 and it was not until 2001 that he approached his previous form. At the 2001 World Championships in Tokyo he won the silver medal in the 1,500 and became the first Briton to swim the distance in under 15 minutes. He also won bronze in the 800 free at the same championships. His form carried through to 2002 and the Commonwealth Games in Manchester where he picked up a silver medal in the 1,500 and bronze in the 800. Smith returned to Olympic competition in Athens after missing the Sydney Games but could not match his efforts of Atlanta and placed sixth in the final of the 1,500. He retired from swimming shortly afterwards and returned to Manchester University to complete the studies he had interrupted 10 years earlier to seek sporting glory.
Great Britain