{"id":471226,"date":"2021-05-03T04:00:25","date_gmt":"2021-05-03T11:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=471226"},"modified":"2021-05-03T05:10:34","modified_gmt":"2021-05-03T12:10:34","slug":"swimming-world-presents-claire-curzan-no-limits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/swimming-world-presents-claire-curzan-no-limits\/","title":{"rendered":"Swimming World Presents – Claire Curzan: No Limits!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest issue of Swimming World Magazine<\/em><\/span>
\nis now available for download in the<\/span> Swimming World Vault<\/span><\/strong><\/a>!<\/p>\n

Non-Subscribers Can Download This Issue Here<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Claire Curzan: No Limits!<\/span><\/h3>\n

By David Rieder<\/span><\/p>\n

Claire Curzan has been swimming fast since she was a young age grouper and has continued to do so in high school. Last March, she came within 13-hundredths of the American record in the short course 100 fly, and in April, she found herself within 22-hundredths of the long course U.S. best. She\u2019s versatile, she\u2019s coachable, she has international experience, and she\u2019s moved from a fringe Olympic contender to an Olympic favorite. Curzan is only 16, and her promising future couldn’t be brighter.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For years, Claire Curzan has been recognized as one of the most impressive young swimmers in the country. She has been consistently setting national age group records in butterfly, backstroke and freestyle events since she was 12, and in the summer of 2019, she earned some acclaim by finishing second in the 100 meter back and fifth in the 100 fly at U.S. Nationals. At the World Junior Championships a few weeks later, Curzan won four medals: silver in the 100 back, bronze in the 50 fly and 100 fly and gold on the U.S. women\u2019s 400 medley relay.<\/p>\n

In February 2020, Curzan broke a pair of national high school records in the 100 yard fly and 100 back while representing Cardinal Gibbons High School at North Carolina\u2019s high school state championships. She was a high school sophomore at that point, only 15.<\/p>\n

Anyone who has followed Curzan\u2019s career could see her special potential quite clearly, but then the COVID-19 hiatus came and competition came to a halt. As soon as Curzan returned to competition, she was already one of the best sprint butterflyers in the world.<\/p>\n

At a July 2020 intrasquad meet, Curzan\u2019s first competitive foray in four months, she swam a 50.03 in the short course 100 fly, making her the eighth-fastest swimmer in history. A few weeks later, she swam under 50 seconds for the first time. By March 2021, Curzan had nearly taken down the American record. She swam a 49.51, just off Erika Brown\u2019s record of 49.38, and good for fifth-fastest all-time in the event.<\/p>\n

SHE CAN SWIM LONG COURSE, TOO
\nWell, sure, that\u2019s just short course yards, but over the course of several months, Curzan rapidly proved herself in the big pool, too.<\/p>\n

Pre-COVID, her 100 meter fly best time was 57.87, but in the fall of 2020, she dropped to 57.57 and then, at the U.S. Open in November, to 56.61. Suddenly, the 16-year-old had vaulted herself into a three-way tie for 12th-fastest all-time in the 100 fly, sharing that spot with the likes of 2000 Olympic gold medalist Inge de Bruijn, and third-fastest ever among Americans behind only 2012 Olympic gold medalist Dana Vollmer and 2016 Olympian Kelsi Dahlia. It was the fastest time any American swimmer had posted since 2018.<\/p>\n

The whole week of training before, I wasn\u2019t really feeling that great in the water,\u201d Curzan said. \u201cI felt kind of heavy, and then in warm-up, my fly felt amazing. I didn\u2019t know I was taking it out as fast as I did. I was just kind of sticking to my race plan and just going off the adrenaline,\u201d Curzan said. \u201cI was just kind of shocked. A little tinkling in the back of my head told me that I could go that fast, but I didn\u2019t really believe it until I looked up and saw it. It was just one of those races where it\u2019s kind of out-of-body.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Curzan was not done showing her cards quite yet. In April, while racing against fellow teenage star Torri Huske in the 100 fly at a meet in her home pool in Cary, N.C., Curzan dropped her best time to a stunning 56.20, a performance that reverberated around the swimming world. She moved to eighth all-time in the event and became the second-fastest American ever, ahead of Dahlia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I could go 56, 56-mid or high. I don\u2019t know. I was not expecting that,\u201d Curzan said. The immediate aftermath of the swim left Curzan in a state of almost shock, and it took a little while for the impact of her effort to sink in. \u201cI didn\u2019t know I could go that fast. I didn\u2019t know I could drop that much again.\u201d<\/p>\n

With just a few quick performances, the Olympics had become much more than a dream. Now, Curzan will go to June\u2019s U.S. Olympic Trials firmly in the spotlight. Her best time is now just 2-tenths off Vollmer\u2019s American record (55.98), and having dropped more than a second in the last year, it\u2019s not crazy to think she could make that leap. She has already swum quicker than the silver medal-winning time from the 2019 World Championships.<\/p>\n

And, yeah, she\u2019s still just 16 years old!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To read more about Claire Curzan’s path to Trials…and Tokyo,<\/a>
\nClick here to download the full May 2021 issue of Swimming World Magazine, available now!<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

T\"Swimming<\/a>
\n[PHOTO CREDIT: ISHOF ARCHIVE]<\/p>\n


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<\/h1>\n

Swimming World May 2021 Issue<\/span><\/h1>\n

FEATURES<\/p>\n

014<\/span> WOMEN\u2019S NCAAs: A NEW NO. 1<\/strong>
\n<\/span>For the first time in the history of the NCAA Division I Women\u2019s Swimming and Diving Championships\u2014since 1982\u2014the University of Virginia finished first. It was also the first time it cracked the top 5 with its previous highest finish sixth in 2019.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • VIRGINIA\u2019S ROAD TO HISTORY<\/strong><\/span>
    \nby Dan D\u2019Addona<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • NC STATE ADDS TO ACC DOMINANCE<\/strong><\/span>
    \nby Dan D\u2019Addona<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • THE TALK OF THE MEET: MAGGIE MacNEIL<\/strong><\/span>
    \nby John Lohn<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    018 <\/span>MEN\u2019S NCAAs: THE PERFECT RETIREMENT GIFT<\/strong><\/span>
    \nDays before their coach, Eddie Reese, officially announced his retirement from coaching after 43 years, the Texas men\u2019s team won their 15th men\u2019s NCAA national team championship.<\/p>\n

      \n
    • THIS ONE\u2019S FOR EDDIE!<\/span><\/strong>
      \nby Andy Ross<\/strong><\/li>\n
    • SCINTILLATING PERFORMANCES: SHAINE CASAS & RYAN HOFFER<\/span><\/strong>
      \nby John Lohn<\/strong><\/li>\n
    • PATIENCE REWARDED: MAX McHUGH & NICK ALBIERO<\/span><\/strong>
      \nby Andy Ross<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      022<\/span> NCAA D-II CHAMPS: SOME THINGS NEVER SEEM TO CHANGE<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby Andy Ross<\/strong>
      \nA year into the pandemic that has completely changed our world, Queens University of Charlotte brought about some stability to the 2021 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships by sweeping their sixth straight women\u2019s and men\u2019s team titles.<\/p>\n

      023<\/span> NO LIMITS!<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby David Rieder<\/strong>
      \nClaire Curzan has been swimming fast since she was a young age grouper and has continued to do so in high school. Last March, she came within 13-hundredths of the American record in the short course 100 fly, and in April, she found herself within 22-hundredths of the long course U.S. best. She\u2019s versatile, she\u2019s coachable, she has international experience, and she\u2019s moved from a fringe Olympic contender to an Olympic favorite. Curzan is only 16, and her promising future couldn\u2019t be brighter.<\/p>\n

      026<\/span> TAKEOFF TO TOKYO: WHEN IRISH EYES WEREN\u2019T SMILING<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby John Lohn<\/strong>
      \nIreland\u2019s Michelle Smith\u2014a four-time Olympic medalist in 1996 who received a four-year ban from the sport in 1998 for tampering with a doping sample\u2014has been defined as being a poster girl for cheating, and by her willingness to cut corners and take advantage of performance-enhancing drug use to make the leap from an athlete of very-good skill to one of elite status.<\/p>\n

      029<\/span> 50 SWIMMERS, 6 MEDALS<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby Dan D\u2019Addona<\/strong>
      \nThe Tokyo Olympics will mark the fourth occasion that open water swimming will be contested on the Olympic level, and even a 10-kilometer marathon race can bring exciting moments and dramatic finishes.<\/p>\n

      030<\/span> JOSH MATHENY: RISING STAR<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby Matthew De George<\/strong>
      \nFrom a middle-schooler newly committed to swimming full-time in 2016, the future looks encouraging for 18-year-old Josh Matheny, who approaches the U.S. Olympic Trials for Tokyo in June as a dark horse to make the team in men\u2019s breaststroke.<\/p>\n

      032<\/span> ISHOF: THE ART OF SWIMMING<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby Bruce Wigo<\/strong>
      \nThis is the story of Hero and Leander, Lord Byron and the birth of open water swimming.<\/p>\n

      035<\/span> NUTRITION: HYDRATION\u2014BEYOND THIRST!<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby Dawn Weatherwax<\/strong>
      \nHydration truly has a daily importance for all kinds of swimmers from age groupers to Olympians to Masters swimmers, but it tends to get more notoriety when the weather gets warmer.<\/p>\n

      COACHING<\/p>\n

      012<\/span> THE POWER OF POSITIVE COACHING<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby Michael J. Stott<\/strong>
      \nRelationships built upon honesty, trust and communication go a long way toward cementing a bond between coach and athlete. Coupling that with knowledge of the individual first and athlete second produces a positive working relationship that can last for a lifetime.<\/p>\n

      038<\/span> SWIMMING TECHNIQUE CONCEPTS: MAXIMIZING SWIMMING VELOCITY (Part 1)\u2014STROKE RATE vs. STROKE LENGTH<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby Rod Havriluk<\/strong>
      \nSwimming velocity is the criterion measure for swimming performance and is the product of stroke length and stroke rate. This article explains how stroke length and stroke rate vary and how stroke time provides insight into maximizing swimming velocity.<\/p>\n

      042<\/span> Q&A WITH COACH STEVE HAUFLER<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby Michael J. Stott<\/strong><\/p>\n

      044<\/span> HOW THEY TRAIN CHARLOTTE SHAMIA<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby Michael J. Stott<\/strong><\/p>\n

      TRAINING<\/p>\n

      037<\/span> DRYSIDE TRAINING: THE IM DRYLAND CIRCUIT<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby J.R. Rosania<\/strong><\/p>\n

      JUNIOR SWIMMER<\/p>\n

      047<\/span> UP & COMERS: TEAGAN O\u2019DELL<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby Shoshanna Rutemiller<\/strong><\/p>\n

      COLUMNS<\/p>\n

      008<\/span> A VOICE FOR THE SPORT<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

      011<\/span> DID YOU KNOW: ABOUT THE MOREHOUSE TIGER SHARKS?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

      046<\/span> THE OFFICIAL WORD<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

      048<\/span> GUTTERTALK<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n