Claire Curzan, Torri Huske to Clash in 100 Butterfly This Weekend in Cary
Claire Curzan will compete in a long-course meet this weekend for the first time since November, when she posted a stunning 56.61 in the 100 fly that moved her into a three-way tie for 12th all-time. Curzan will have some top competition in the event from Torri Huske, the Arlington, Va., native and Stanford commit who is the fifth-fastest American in the 100 fly in the past four years.
Curzan and Huske will compete at the TAC Titans’ Premier Invitational in Cary, N.C., Curzan’s home pool. They will swim the 100 fly on Saturday. In this Olympic cycle, the top five Americans include Kelsi Dahlia (56.37), Curzan (56.61), Katie McLaughlin (57.23), Regan Smith (57.34) and Huske (57.36). Curzan will also compete in the 100 free, 100 and 200 back and 50 free, while Huske will swim the 50 and 100 free, 200 fly and 200 IM. Huske has been as fast as 54.04 in the 100 free, and she will have competition from the Virginia-trained Catie Deloof in that event.
Also competing in Cary will be previous U.S. World Championship team members Justin Wright (now training at North Carolina) and Justin Ress (N.C. State). 2019 NCAA champion Coleman Stewart will also make the 15-minute drive from N.C. State to Cary, and 33-year-old Madison Kennedy, third in the 50 free at the 2016 Olympic Trials, will make the short trip from Charlotte to compete.
The University of Virginia, fresh off a title at the women’s NCAA championships a few weeks ago, will bring a handful of top swimmers back to North Carolina, and leading the contingent will be three-time individual champion Paige Madden. The Cavaliers senior won the 200, 500 and 1650-yard freestyle events at NCAAs, but looking toward long course, her best chance to contend for the Olympic team will come in the 200 free, where six swimmers will be selected for the Olympics in the 800 free relay. She has been as quick as 1:58.37, but she will likely need to improve by at least a second to contend.
Check out the psych sheet for the Cary meet.