The Stars of Invite Week: Rex Maurer, Claire Curzan Take Huge Steps at New Schools
Is anyone surprised that Gretchen Walsh broke her own American and NCAA records in the 100 butterfly and almost knocked off her 50 freestyle mark at the Tennessee Invitational? They shouldn’t be, not with Walsh’s track record of producing incredible swims at pretty much every opportunity in recent years, especially in short course. After all, it was just last month that a switch to short course meters for one dual meet produced a world record and three additional American records.
The other individual Olympic medalists from Paris who are racing in college swimming this season all posted solid times at their respective meets, nothing earth-shattering but nothing to suggest that Torri Huske, Hubert Kos, Josh Liendo, Ilya Kharun and Luke Hobson will not be ready to go come championship season.
In the meantime, some swimmers who did not bask in the glow of Olympic glory four months ago stole the show with lights-out performances that boosted their standing entering the spring. Here are six who boosted their own status this weekend.
Rex Maurer, Texas
Maurer has been a revelation since moving his training to the University of Texas, with several early-season swims suggesting he was making the leap to full-fledged contender in the mid-distance races after a non-noteworthy freshman year at Stanford. Well, Maurer is now the American-record holder in the 500 free, the fastest man ever other than the legendary Leon Marchand, and he is within tenths of Chase Kalisz’s long-standing national mark in the 400 IM.
Former Longhorn Carson Foster became the first American ever under 4:06 in the 500 free in a Wednesday-evening time trial, but Maurer swam one-and-a-half seconds quicker a bit later in the session, completing a day in which he took seven seconds off his best time. His mark of 4:04.45 is almost two seconds quicker than what was the all-time record at the start of 2024, Kieran Smith’s 4:06.32.
In addition to his 500 free and 400 IM exploits, Maurer also swam the country’s fastest time in the 1650 free, eclipsing the winning mark from last year’s NCAA Championships, and he lined up alongside his Texas teammates to preview an 800 free relay which could become the first ever under 6:00 at this year’s national championships. Expect to hear Maurer’s name alongside the stars of college swimming moving forward.
Claire Curzan, Virginia
Claire Curzan — Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Perottino / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
During her first year training at the University of Virginia, Curzan achieved some success as she swept the backstroke events and won six total medals at the lightly-attended Doha World Championships, but she struggled at the U.S. Olympic Trials, culminating with a crushing third-place finish in the 200-meter back. But in her first invite officially representing the Cavaliers, Curzan reminded the swimming community how good she can be.
There were hints of what was coming through the first two days of racing at the Tennessee Invite: she had a strong sub-1:43 time trial of the 200 free Wednesday before acquitting herself nicely in her 100 fly-100 back double Thursday, swimming a best time in the 100 back. Finally, she concluded the meet by becoming the first swimmer ever under 1:47 in the 200 back, breaking a record that Regan Smith held for almost six years and crushing her previous personal best, posted on her way to an NCAA title in March 2023, by more than a half-second.
Curzan will play numerous roles across Virginia’s quest for a fifth consecutive national title, with four relay slots at the NCAA Championships a near certainty, but the 200 back looks like the event in which she can re-establish her star credentials.
Jordan Crooks, Tennessee
Crooks is already an established figure in the sprint world, having joined Caeleb Dressel in the exclusive sub-18 club in the 50 free and finishing among the country’s best in the sprint events two years in a row, but he took steps forward while racing at home last week. Among the results: a 50 free relay split of 17.57 that ranked third all-time, a 100 fly performance of 43.77 that lifted him into the all-time top-five and a 100 free clocking of 40.26 that sits behind only Dressel and Liendo all-time.
No one had written off Crooks entering this season, but he had lost some momentum following Liendo’s dominance last season and the presence of swimmers such as Kharun, Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano and Tennessee teammate Gui Caribe in the sprint events. But now, Crooks sits ahead of the pack in all three events at the season’s halfway point.
Jillian Cox, Texas
Jillian Cox — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Her arrival on the college scene was delayed one year, but after a pair of third-place finishes in the 400 and 800-meter free at the U.S. Olympic Trials, Cox is ready to contribute her distance skills to the Longhorns’ cause. At the Texas Invite, she clocked 4:30.68 in the 500 free, making her the seventh-fastest woman ever as she posted the fastest time in college swimming since Katie Ledecky turned pro in 2018, even faster than Bella Sims swam on the way to last year’s NCAA title.
Cox will have her challengers in the 500 free this year, including Sims, Aurora Roghair, Anna Peplowski and Virginia midseason arrival Katie Grimes, but she is the top swimmer right now. It’s the same story in the 1650 free, where her mark of 15:34.66 is faster than the best time of anyone else currently in the college ranks (excluding Grimes, who has not yet matriculated at UVA). In that mile, she beat her previous best time by 24 seconds.
Julian Smith, Florida
The sub-50 club in the men’s 100 breaststroke includes Liam Bell, Ian Finnerty, Max McHugh and now Smith, who clocked 49.98 to beat Dressel’s school record Thursday evening at the Georgia Invite. The versatile Smith has played a major role for Florida in recent years, handling key legs on winning 200 medley and 200 free relay squads at last year’s national meet, but he had yet to really break through individually. That changed with his sub-50 swim.
Last year, Smith swam a best time of 50.94 in prelims at the NCAA Championships before placing seventh in the final. Now, though, he has posted a mark six tenths faster than Brian Benzing swam to finish second at last year’s meet, with Bell having exhausted his collegiate eligibility following his stunning victory. Smith’s closest competitor in the national rankings is Texas’ Nate Germonprez, but his 50.39 is more than four tenths back of Smith.
Leah Shackley, NC State
Shackley and fellow Wolfpack freshman Erika Pelaez had already gotten off to strong starts in their college careers, but Shackley had a big moment over the weekend when she concluded NC State’s invite with a sub-1:50 performance in the 200 backstroke. Her mark of 1:49.71 beat her own best time by a second, and it would have been good enough for fifth at last year’s NCAA Championships.
Moreover, she finished one-and-a-half seconds ahead of teammate Kennedy Noble, who placed second in March’s championship race. It’s safe to expect we will be seeing plenty of Shackley in major butterfly and backstroke races over the next few years.