{"id":639513,"date":"2026-03-21T16:13:40","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T23:13:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=639513"},"modified":"2026-03-21T19:53:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T02:53:30","slug":"ncaa-womens-championships-claire-curzan-breaks-meet-record-in-200-backstroke-one-hundredth-off-ncaa-mark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ncaa-womens-championships-claire-curzan-breaks-meet-record-in-200-backstroke-one-hundredth-off-ncaa-mark\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA Women’s Championships: Claire Curzan Breaks Meet Record in 200 Backstroke – One Hundredth off NCAA Mark"},"content":{"rendered":"

NCAA Women’s Championships: Claire Curzan Breaks Meet Record in 200 Backstroke – One Hundredth off NCAA Mark<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Virginia’s Claire Curzan had already repeated as NCAA champion in the 100 backstroke.<\/p>\n

A day later, she completed the 200 backstroke repeat as her sensational performance in Atlanta continued at the 2026 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday, March 21, at Georgia Tech.<\/p>\n

Curzan won the 200 back in 1:46.10, breaking the meet record and finishing just one hundredth of a second off of her own NCAA record in the event.<\/p>\n

“It is the most grounded and powerful I have felt, but the nerves still do come out to play. I was proud of my trajectory,” Curzan said. “I proved to myself that there is no ceiling. I am really happy with my gutsy swim because I didn’t think I was going to go out that fast and attack it but it just sets me up even better for long course.”<\/p>\n

Curzan, as expected, started fast and was out in 24.56 in the first 50. At the 100 she was at 50.78.<\/p>\n

She was more than a body length ahead of the field at the 150 at 1:18.14 on her way to another NCAA title.<\/p>\n

Wisconsin’s Maggie<\/strong> Wanezek<\/strong> was the only competitor even close to a body length behind as she finished strong to take second in 1:47.73.<\/p>\n

NC State’s Erika Pelaez<\/strong> finished third in 1:49.08.<\/p>\n

Pitt’s Claire Jansen<\/strong> earned her second All-American finish with a fourth-place swim of 1:49.10.<\/p>\n

Michigan’s Bella Sims<\/strong> finished her individual meet with a fifth-place finish in 1:49.38, ahead of Cal’s Teagan O’Dell<\/strong> (1:49.70), who had just finished second in the 200 IM earlier in the night.<\/p>\n

NC State’s Leah Shackley<\/strong> was seventh in 1:49.74, followed by Indiana’s Miranda Grana<\/strong> (1:50.71) to round out the NCAA first-team All-Americans.<\/p>\n