{"id":651166,"date":"2026-08-15T09:48:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T16:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=651166"},"modified":"2026-08-15T09:48:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T16:48:36","slug":"claire-curzan-speeds-to-silver-credits-young-teammates-for-inspiring-us-old-farts-at-pan-pacs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/claire-curzan-speeds-to-silver-credits-young-teammates-for-inspiring-us-old-farts-at-pan-pacs\/","title":{"rendered":"Claire Curzan Speeds to Silver; Credits Young Teammates for Inspiring ‘Us Old Farts’ at Pan Pacs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Claire Curzan Speeds to Silver, Credits Young Teammates for Inspiring ‘Us Old Farts’ at Pan Pacs<\/strong><\/p>\n

Claire Curzan<\/strong> has had an incredibly polarizing Pan Pacific Championships.<\/p>\n

The American star has been at or near her best in most of her events, setting multiple meet records along the way.<\/p>\n

But those meet records have been overtaken my teammates later in the meet, causing her to be in several B finals instead of A finals because of the meet format.<\/p>\n

In the 200 backstroke, Curzan was again near her best and set a meet record in prelims, only to have it topped by her teammate Regan Smith<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This time, she was second overall and made the A final, where she finished with the silver medal, completing a 1-2 finish with Smith. Curzan went a 2:06.44 in finals.<\/p>\n

“I feel like I did a great job this week. Things are kind of out of my hands. The podium means the world. My goal was to podium tonight. I haven’t swam right next to Regan except once at worlds,” Claire Curzan said. “Going a 2:05 in the morning, which I have never done before, was a great mouse hunt for me. Then just being able to try and finish strong tonight was a win in itself.”<\/p>\n

Curzan also found another gear in the final 50, gaining on Smith until the final 5 meters.<\/p>\n

It was something she wasn’t expecting out of her race, especially after giving so much in her 2:05 swim during prelims.<\/p>\n

“I feel like a lot of the summer our training was quite unusual. I wasn’t the most confident in my shape but I just trusted the training and that was good to see. Having that back half is going to be really important,” she said. ” The name of the game this season for me has been to stay in my lane. This was a very long season. Two years from now anything can happen. Any race I do at this stage at this level is good practice.”<\/p>\n

Curzan said she felt like one of the veterans on the team for the first time, getting to know some younger teammates.<\/p>\n

“It has been a blast to race with everyone and get to know Rylee (Erisman), Brinkleigh (Hansen)<\/strong>,” Claire Curzan said. “They just bring so much joy and excitement to the sport and inspire us ‘old farts’ – I can say that now – to remember why we started and why we love it so much.”<\/p>\n