{"id":655471,"date":"2026-10-16T17:15:33","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T00:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=655471"},"modified":"2026-10-16T17:15:33","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T00:15:33","slug":"virginia-pro-am-session-3-jordan-crooks-doubles-claire-curzan-wins-tight-backstroke-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/virginia-pro-am-session-3-jordan-crooks-doubles-claire-curzan-wins-tight-backstroke-contest\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Pro Am, Session 3: Jordan Crooks Doubles, Claire Curzan Wins Tight Backstroke Contest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virginia Pro Am, Session 3: Jordan Crooks Doubles, Claire Curzan Wins Tight Backstroke Contest<\/strong><\/p>\n

The short course meters tune-up meet at the University of Virginia wrapped up Friday evening with more superior sprint performances from\u00a0Gretchen Walsh<\/strong> and\u00a0Jordan Crooks<\/strong>. Both swimmers swept their respective 50 freestyle and 50 butterfly races, with Walsh breaking a world record in the 50 free<\/a> while Crooks surpassed\u00a0Caeleb Dressel<\/strong> on two separate occasions.<\/p>\n

Walsh swam a time of 22.75 in the 50 free, breaking her previous world record by eight hundredths. She well finished ahead of veterans Abbey Weitzeil<\/strong> (23.72) and\u00a0Simone Manuel\u00a0<\/strong>(24.40) in that race. Later on, Walsh came through in the 50 fly in 24.02, which tied for the sixth-fastest mark in history but ranks well ahead of the No. 2 all-time performer in the event,\u00a0Therese Alshammar<\/strong> at 24.38.<\/p>\n

Crooks, meanwhile, clocked 20.48 for a dominant win in the 50 free, just over a half-second behind his own world record of 19.90. Dressel touched second in 20.90, just ahead of Lamar Taylor<\/strong> (20.95). The 50 fly, meanwhile, saw Crooks finish in 22.07 to edge out\u00a0Tyler Ray<\/strong> (22.29), with Dressel picking up third in 22.67.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most loaded event was the women’s 100 backstroke, which featured world-record holder\u00a0Regan Smith<\/strong> competing against four veterans with significant national and international experience, including two who have joined Smith on the podium at major competitions. Those women,\u00a0Katharine Berkoff<\/strong> and\u00a0Claire Curzan<\/strong>, both jumped on the pace early, leaving Smith almost a half-second behind at the halfway point.<\/p>\n