Claire Curzan

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Claire Curzan
Personal information
National teamUnited States United States
Born (2004-06-30) June 30, 2004 (age 17)
Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesButterfly, backstroke, freestyle
ClubTAC Titans Swim Club
College teamStanford University[1]
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo 4×100 m medley
World Championships (SC)
Gold medal – first place 2021 Abu Dhabi 4x100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2021 Abu Dhabi 4×50 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2021 Abu Dhabi 4×50 m medley
Silver medal – second place 2021 Abu Dhabi 4×50 m mixed medley
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Abu Dhabi 50 m butterfly
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Abu Dhabi 100 m butterfly
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Budapest 4x100 m medley
Silver medal – second place 2019 Budapest 100 m backstroke
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Budapest 50 m butterfly
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Budapest 100 m butterfly

Claire Curzan (born June 30, 2004) is an American swimmer. She won four medals at the 2019 World Junior Swimming Championships. At the 2020 Summer Olympics she won a silver medal in the 4×100 meter medley relay for her contribution swimming the butterfly leg of the relay in the prelims and in her individual event, the 100 meter butterfly, she placed tenth. At the 2021 World Short Course Championships, she won a total of two gold medals and two silver medals in relay events, and two bronze medals in individual events.

Early life and education[]

Curzan was raised in Cary, North Carolina and started swimming when she was three years old.[2]

Curzan is a student at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, North Carolina.[3] In October 2021, she committed to competing collegiately for Stanford University starting in fall of 2022.[1]

Swimming career[]

2019[]

2019 World Junior Championships[]

2019 World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 4×100 m medley relay 3:59.13
Silver medal – second place 100 m backstroke 1:00.00
Bronze medal – third place 50 m butterfly 25.81
Bronze medal – third place 100 m butterfly 58.37

Curzan competed at the 2019 World Junior Championships in Budapest, Hungary, winning a total of four medals, of which three were in individual events.[4][5] On August 21, Curzan won her first medal of the Championships, a silver medal in the 100 meter backstroke with a time of 1:00.00.[6] She followed her silver medal up with a bronze medal on August 23 in the 50 meter butterfly, where she finished third in 25.81 seconds, just 0.11 seconds behind the gold medalist in the event and fellow American Torri Huske.[7] On the final day of competition, August 25, Curzan finished third in the 100 meter butterfly with a time of 58.37, winning the bronze medal and missing out on the gold medal to Torri Huske.[8] Curzan wrapped up her competition swimming backstroke on the 4×100 meter medley relay, splitting a time of 1:00.75 and helping the relay win the gold medal in a time of 3:59.13.[9]

2020[]

As a 16-year-old in August 2020, Curzan set a new National Age Group record in the 100 yard butterfly for the girls 15–16 age group with a time of 49.73 seconds.[10]

2021[]

At the 2021 TAC Titans Premier Meet, conducted in long course meters, Curzan became the second-fastest female American performer ever in the 100 meter butterfly, with a time of 56.20 seconds that moved her up in rankings behind fastest female American Dana Vollmer and ahead of third-fastest female American Kelsi Dahlia.[11]

2020 Olympic Trials[]

In 2021, Curzan placed second in the final of the 100 meter butterfly at the US Olympic Team Trials in Omaha, Nebraska with a time of 56.43 seconds, qualifying her for the 2020 US Olympic Team.[2][12] The 2020 Olympic Games were the first Olympic Games Curzan qualified to compete at, making her just 16 years old when she qualified and 17 years old at her Olympic debut.[13]

2020 Summer Olympics[]

See also: Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics
2020 Summer Olympics
Silver medal – second place 4x100 m medley relay 3:51.73

At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan and held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Curzan placed tenth in the 100 meter butterfly and won a silver medal in the 4x100 meter medley relay for her contribution swimming the butterfly leg of the relay in the prelims.[14] The silver medal Curzan won for her efforts as part of the prelims relay consisting of herself, Rhyan White (backstroke), Lilly King (breaststroke), and Erika Brown (freestyle) was her first Olympic medal of any kind.[14][15]

2021 World Short Course Championships[]

2021 World Championships
Gold medal – first place 4×100 m freestyle 3:28.52
Gold medal – first place 4×50 m freestyle 1:34.22
Silver medal – second place 4×50 m medley 1:43.61
Silver medal – second place 4×50 m mixed medley 1:37.04
Bronze medal – third place 50 m butterfly 24.55 (AM,WJ)
Bronze medal – third place 100 m butterfly 55.39 (WJ)

Curzan was announced to the United States team for the 2021 World Short Course Championships in late October, with the announcement of the team earning the number two spot for "The Week That Was" honor from Swimming World.[16][17] Building up her short course racing prowess in advance of the 2021 World Championships, Curzan broke the national high school records, both overall and independent records for each event, in the 100 meter butterfly with a time of 57.08 seconds, in the 50 meter freestyle with a 24.94, and in the 100 meter backstroke where she set the new record at 58.40 seconds.[18] Her three records captured the number three spot for "The Week That Was" honor for the week of November 22.[19]

Prior to the start of competition, Curzan entered to compete in three individual events, the 50 meter freestyle, 50 meter butterfly, and 100 meter butterfly.[20] Commencing competition on day one, Curzan swum in both the prelims and the final of the 4×100 meter freestyle relay, helping achieve a gold-medal-win in the final with a time of 3:28.52, splitting a 52.25 for the second leg of the relay.[21][22][23] In the morning of day two, Curzan split a 24.87 for the butterfly leg of the 4×50 meter medley relay in the prelims heats, helping advance the relay to the final ranked first.[24] Curzan split a 24.56 for the same leg in the final, helping achieve a silver-medal-winning time of 1:43.61 with finals relay teammates Rhyan White, Lydia Jacoby, and Abbey Weitzeil.[25][26] Curzan qualified for the semifinals of the 50 meter butterfly in the morning prelims session on day three, ranking fourth with her time of 25.17 seconds.[27] In the evening she qualified for the final of the 50 meter butterfly with a time of 25.20 seconds, which tied her with Arina Surkova of Russia and Torri Huske for fifth-rank heading into the final.[28] For the final of the 4×50 meter mixed medley relay, Curzan helped win the silver medal in a time of 1:37.04, swimming a 24.85 for the butterfly leg of the relay.[29]

In the final of the 50 meter butterfly on day four, Curzan won the bronze medal with a world junior record, Americas record, and American record time of 24.55 seconds.[30][31][32] In the prelims heats on day five, Curzan ranked second in the 100 meter butterfly with a time of 56.46, less than half a second slower than first-ranked Louise Hansson of Sweden, and qualified for the semifinals in the evening.[33] Later in the morning, Curzan swam a 24.11 in the prelims of the 50 meter freestyle and qualified for the semifinals ranking eighth.[34] Starting her competition in the evening, Curzan tied the world junior record in the 100 meter butterfly with a time of 55.64 seconds in the semifinals and qualified for the final ranking second.[35][36][37] Finishing her day five events, Curzan qualified for the final of the 50 meter freestyle ranked sixth with a time of 23.80 seconds in the semifinals.[38]

For her first final on the sixth and final day of competition, Curzan won a gold medal in the 4×50 metre freestyle relay with a relay time of 1:34.22 and to which she contributed a split of 23.40 seconds for the second leg of the relay.[39][40] In her second final, Curzan won a bronze medal in the 100 meter butterfly with a world junior record-setting time of 55.39 seconds, which was less than four-tenths of a second slower than the 55.04 swum by gold medalist Margaret MacNeil of Canada.[41][42][43] In her third final of the session, Curzan placed sixth in the 50 meter freestyle behind fifth-place finisher and teammate Abbey Weitzeil with a 23.91.[44] In her fourth of four finals for the day, Curzan helped achieve a fourth-place finish in the 4×100 metre medley relay alongside finals relay teammates Katharine Berkoff (backstroke), Emily Escobedo (breaststroke), and Abbey Weitzeil (freestyle), splitting a 55.61 for the butterfly leg of the relay.[45]

Awards and honors[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Lepesant, Anne (October 3, 2021). "#1 In 2022, Olympic Silver Medalist Claire Curzan Makes Her College Choice". SwimSwam. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Hunt, Loretta (July 23, 2021). "US butterfly prodigy Claire Curzan: 'Everyone gawked at this girl who liked to swim fast'". The Guardian. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  3. ^ "Cardinal Gibbons swimmer Claire Curzan makes the cut for Team USA". www.highschoolot.com. 15 June 2021.
  4. ^ "Claire Curzan Bio". SwimSwam. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  5. ^ OlympicTalk (November 13, 2020). "Claire Curzan, 16, flies into the Olympic swimming picture". NBC Sports. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  6. ^ FINA (August 21, 2019). "7th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships 2019: Women's 100m Backstroke Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  7. ^ FINA (August 23, 2019). "7th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships 2019: Women's 50m Butterfly Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  8. ^ FINA (August 25, 2019). "7th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships 2019: Women's 100m Butterfly Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  9. ^ FINA (August 25, 2019). "7th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships 2019: Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  10. ^ Ross, Andy (8 August 2020). "Claire Curzan Rattles American Record With 49.73 100 Fly SCY at TAC Titans Invite". Swimming World. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  11. ^ Lepesant, Anne (April 10, 2021). "Claire Curzan Goes 56.20 in the 100 Fly; Passes Dahlia for #2 American All-Time". SwimSwam. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  12. ^ "2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Women's 100m Butterfly Final Results" (PDF). Omega Timing. 14 June 2021.
  13. ^ Mazur, Joe (June 16, 2021). "'It doesn't feel real:' 16-year-old from Cary makes US Olympic team for summer games in Tokyo". ABC 11. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  14. ^ a b Omega Timing; Atos (August 1, 2021). "Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games: Swimming Results Book". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
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  17. ^ a b Rieder, David (November 1, 2021). "The Week That Was: Chalmers Takes Down 13-Year-Old World Record". Swimming World. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
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  19. ^ a b Shay, Ashleigh (November 22, 2021). "The Week That Was: Regan Smith Crushes Signature Events at NC State Invitational". Swimming World. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
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  28. ^ FINA (December 18, 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Women's 50m Butterfly Semifinals Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  29. ^ FINA (December 18, 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Mixed 4x50m Medley Relay Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  30. ^ FINA (December 19, 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Women's 50m Butterfly Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  31. ^ Hamann, Michael (December 19, 2021). "Claire Curzan Breaks American, World Junior Records In 50 Fly". SwimSwam. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  32. ^ Lohn, John (December 19, 2021). "Claire Curzan, Men's 800 Freestyle Relay Set American Records at Short Course Worlds Championships". Swimming World. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
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  34. ^ FINA (December 20, 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Women's 50m Freestyle Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
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  42. ^ Rieder, David (December 21, 2021). "Claire Curzan Lowers 100 Fly World Junior Record During Grueling Final Night at Short Course Worlds". Swimming World. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  43. ^ Sutherland, James (December 21, 2021). "MacNeil Downs Canadian, Curzan Resets World Junior Record In 100 Fly Final". SwimSwam. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
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  45. ^ FINA (December 21, 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Women's 4x100m Medley Relay Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  46. ^ Anderson, Jared (February 11, 2021). "SwimSwam's Top 100 For 2021: Women's #50 — #41". SwimSwam. Retrieved October 11, 2021.

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