She started her career by competing in the Community Games, a competition based on parish communities all over the country.
She began running at age 6 and qualified for the Community Games' national finals every year.
In 1981 she won her first-ever National medal – in the Community Games national final of the 200m.
She had also joined her local athletic club, St Paul's A.C., which competed in competitions organised by the National Federation for young athletes, Bórd Lúth-Cleas Óganach na hÉireann (BLOE,) having her first success with her colleagues on the club's u/11 4 × 100 m relay team.
It was to be the first of many.

Her first individual BLOE title came in 1984, at age 13, and she remained unbeaten by any Irish female in hurdles competitions at every level of competition (juvenile, schools, junior and senior) for the rest of her athletic career until she retired in 2000.
In schools competition she represented Ireland for three years in succession, captaining the team in 1988.
In that same year she captained three Irish teams – in the Four Nations schools international championship, the Celtic Games and the European Catholic Schools Games (FISEC), winning medals in all three.

Susan gained her first senior international vest in 1988 (whilst still only sixteen years old) when she was selected to represent Ireland in the 100m hurdles at Grangemouth, Scotland in a match against Scotland and Iceland where she finished fourth in 14.44secs.
She competed in the British Amateur Athletic (AAA) under-age championships winning four medals; one gold, two silver and one bronze.
She was the outstanding under-age athlete of her generation and in 1988 she was selected as the Irish juvenile athlete of the year.

When she reached eighteen years of age she was no longer eligible for juvenile competition so she progressed to the oldest senior club in the city, Waterford A.C., for whom she competed until her retirement.

To mark the 30th year of BLOE the Federation held a banquet in February 2000 at which the best athletes from all the 32 counties of Ireland were honoured.
To climax the celebrations the Federation named Susan as their Star of Stars – the greatest juvenile athlete in Ireland in the Federation's 30-year history.
She was presented with the award by Ireland's Taoiseach.
She started her career by competing in the Community Games, a competition based on parish communities all over the country. She began running at age 6 and qualified for the Community Games' national finals every year. In 1981 she won her first-ever National medal – in the Community Games national final of the 200m. She had also joined her local athletic club, St Paul's A.C., which competed in competitions organised by the National Federation for young athletes, Bórd Lúth-Cleas Óganach na hÉireann (BLOE,) having her first success with her colleagues on the club's u/11 4 × 100 m relay team. It was to be the first of many.
Her first individual BLOE title came in 1984, at age 13, and she remained unbeaten by any Irish female in hurdles competitions at every level of competition (juvenile, schools, junior and senior) for the rest of her athletic career until she retired in 2000. In schools competition she represented Ireland for three years in succession, captaining the team in 1988. In that same year she captained three Irish teams – in the Four Nations schools international championship, the Celtic Games and the European Catholic Schools Games (FISEC), winning medals in all three.
Susan gained her first senior international vest in 1988 (whilst still only sixteen years old) when she was selected to represent Ireland in the 100m hurdles at Grangemouth, Scotland in a match against Scotland and Iceland where she finished fourth in 14.44secs. She competed in the British Amateur Athletic (AAA) under-age championships winning four medals; one gold, two silver and one bronze. She was the outstanding under-age athlete of her generation and in 1988 she was selected as the Irish juvenile athlete of the year.
When she reached eighteen years of age she was no longer eligible for juvenile competition so she progressed to the oldest senior club in the city, Waterford A.C., for whom she competed until her retirement.
To mark the 30th year of BLOE the Federation held a banquet in February 2000 at which the best athletes from all the 32 counties of Ireland were honoured. To climax the celebrations the Federation named Susan as their Star of Stars – the greatest juvenile athlete in Ireland in the Federation's 30-year history. She was presented with the award by Ireland's Taoiseach.
Susan Smith-Walsh