TYR Pro Series: Claire Curzan Wraps Up Stellar Weekend By Powering to Victory in 100 Freestyle
Consider momentum built as Claire Curzan heads toward the USA Swimming International Team Trials later this month in Greensboro.
One of the brightest rising stars in the American arsenal, Curzan capped a spectacular showing at the TYR Pro Series in San Antonio on Saturday night when she won the 100-meter freestyle in 53.68. Curzan’s latest triumph was her fourth of the weekend, complementing earlier first-place efforts in the 50 freestyle, 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly. A Stanford recruit and Tokyo Olympian, Curzan is obviously well-positioned with the World Championships in Budapest looming in June.
En route to her win in the 100 freestyle, Curzan used her early speed to go out in 25.60 and build a .30 lead on Natalie Hinds and a .35 edge over Erika Brown. Over the closing 50 meters, Curzan slightly expanded her margin to beat Brown (54.08) and Hinds (54.30) to the wall. Seven-time Olympic champion Katie Ledecky opted to skip the 800 freestyle and 1500 freestyle this weekend and placed fourth in the 100 free, going 54.93.
Curzan did a little bit of everything over the past three days. In addition to clocking 57-low in the 100 butterfly and breaking the 59-second barrier in the 100 backstroke, Curzan set a National Age Group (17-18) record during her victory in the 50 freestyle. Her 100 freestyle simply wrapped up a dominant meet that will allow the youngster from North Carolina to enter Greensboro on a roll and carrying confidence.
Double-backstroke Olympian Rhyan White was the class of the field in the 200 backstroke, as the Alabama standout led wire to wire to win in 2:07.92, more than a second clear of Phoebe Bacon (2:09.52). The fourth-place finisher in both backstroke events at last summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, White had a lead of nearly a second at the midway point and continued to add to her advantage through the back half of the race.
As was the case at last year’s Olympic Trials, the backstroke events at the International Team Trials are expected to be some of the most hotly contested. The United States’ depth in the women’s backstroke disciplines is incredible, with several World Championships medal cotenders likely to be left off the plane to Budapest.
Melanie Margalis used a strong freestyle leg to track down Leah Polonsky in the 200 individual medley and prevail in 2:12.39. Polonsky, who finished in 2:12.85, had a .33 advantage at the 150-meter mark, but Margalis was too much on the final length, where she split 31.26, to the 32.05 of Polonsky.
In the opening event of the night, Sierra Schmidt easily won the 1500 freestyle in a time of 16:35.94.
Event 21 Women 1500 LC Meter Freestyle
==================================================================
World: W 15:20.48 5/16/2018 Katie Ledecky, USA
American: A 15:20.48 5/17/2018 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
U.S. Open: O 15:20.48 5/17/2018 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
Jr World: J 15:28.36 8/24/2014 Katie Ledecky, USA
Pro Swim: P 15:20.48 5/16/2018 Katie Ledecky, Stanford Swimmin
Name Age Team Seed Finals
==================================================================
1 Sierra Schmidt 23 Scottsdale Aquat 16:06.85 16:35.94
r:+0.72 30.09 1:03.04 (32.95)
1:36.01 (32.97) 2:09.34 (33.33)
2:42.45 (33.11) 3:15.99 (33.54)
3:49.11 (33.12) 4:22.60 (33.49)
4:55.56 (32.96) 5:28.87 (33.31)
6:01.89 (33.02) 6:35.21 (33.32)
7:08.11 (32.90) 7:41.37 (33.26)
8:14.32 (32.95) 8:47.79 (33.47)
9:20.82 (33.03) 9:54.39 (33.57)
10:27.77 (33.38) 11:01.46 (33.69)
11:34.74 (33.28) 12:08.38 (33.64)
12:41.78 (33.40) 13:15.52 (33.74)
13:49.01 (33.49) 14:22.84 (33.83)
14:56.53 (33.69) 15:30.10 (33.57)
16:03.45 (33.35) 16:35.94 (32.49)
2 Jillian Cox 16 Longhorn Aquatic 16:52.20 17:13.12
r:+0.75 30.62 1:04.56 (33.94)
1:38.27 (33.71) 2:11.82 (33.55)
2:45.54 (33.72) 3:19.27 (33.73)
3:53.51 (34.24) 4:26.93 (33.42)
5:00.42 (33.49) 5:34.03 (33.61)
6:07.43 (33.40) 6:41.64 (34.21)
7:15.55 (33.91) 7:49.77 (34.22)
8:24.06 (34.29) 8:58.66 (34.60)
9:33.49 (34.83) 10:08.35 (34.86)
10:43.40 (35.05) 11:18.53 (35.13)
11:54.23 (35.70) 12:30.21 (35.98)
13:06.06 (35.85) 13:42.44 (36.38)
14:18.74 (36.30) 14:54.65 (35.91)
15:30.54 (35.89) 16:05.46 (34.92)
16:39.66 (34.20) 17:13.12 (33.46)
3 Abby Grottle 20 Texas A & M Univ 16:22.37Y 17:15.92
r:+0.71 31.91 1:06.69 (34.78)
1:41.71 (35.02) 2:16.88 (35.17)
2:51.06 (34.18) 3:26.83 (35.77)
4:01.85 (35.02) 4:36.87 (35.02)
5:11.99 (35.12) 5:46.90 (34.91)
6:21.50 (34.60) 6:56.10 (34.60)
7:30.79 (34.69) 8:05.55 (34.76)
8:40.35 (34.80) 9:15.07 (34.72)
9:49.97 (34.90) 10:24.47 (34.50)
10:59.17 (34.70) 11:33.87 (34.70)
12:08.62 (34.75) 12:42.90 (34.28)
13:17.63 (34.73) 13:51.93 (34.30)
14:26.51 (34.58) 15:00.72 (34.21)
15:34.88 (34.16) 16:08.95 (34.07)
16:43.09 (34.14) 17:15.92 (32.83)
4 Frederica Kizek 20 Unattached-NT 16:27.69Y 17:30.21
r:+0.65 31.64 1:06.13 (34.49)
1:40.86 (34.73) 2:15.82 (34.96)
2:50.75 (34.93) 3:25.98 (35.23)
4:00.96 (34.98) 4:36.24 (35.28)
5:11.24 (35.00) 5:46.41 (35.17)
6:21.52 (35.11) 6:56.79 (35.27)
7:31.92 (35.13) 8:07.28 (35.36)
8:42.60 (35.32) 9:17.82 (35.22)
9:53.12 (35.30) 10:28.47 (35.35)
11:03.89 (35.42) 11:39.15 (35.26)
12:14.23 (35.08) 12:49.41 (35.18)
13:24.56 (35.15) 14:00.00 (35.44)
14:35.23 (35.23) 15:10.44 (35.21)
15:45.55 (35.11) 16:20.74 (35.19)
16:55.74 (35.00) 17:30.21 (34.47)
5 Mollie Wright 22 Texas A & M Univ 16:44.19Y 17:35.55
r:+0.71 32.21 1:07.54 (35.33)
1:42.83 (35.29) 2:18.36 (35.53)
2:54.07 (35.71) 3:29.61 (35.54)
4:05.30 (35.69) 4:40.80 (35.50)
5:16.40 (35.60) 5:52.19 (35.79)
6:27.77 (35.58) 7:03.70 (35.93)
7:39.43 (35.73) 8:14.85 (35.42)
8:50.62 (35.77) 9:26.29 (35.67)
10:02.03 (35.74) 10:37.43 (35.40)
11:12.92 (35.49) 11:48.77 (35.85)
12:24.17 (35.40) 12:59.54 (35.37)
13:35.07 (35.53) 14:10.07 (35.00)
14:45.30 (35.23) 15:20.15 (34.85)
15:54.77 (34.62) 16:29.38 (34.61)
17:03.05 (33.67) 17:35.55 (32.50)
6 Annabelle Corco 21 Unattached-NT 17:17.80 17:40.56
r:+0.81 31.99 1:06.67 (34.68)
1:41.47 (34.80) 2:16.63 (35.16)
2:51.60 (34.97) 3:26.88 (35.28)
4:02.04 (35.16) 4:37.27 (35.23)
5:12.69 (35.42) 5:48.09 (35.40)
6:23.37 (35.28) 6:59.15 (35.78)
7:34.68 (35.53) 8:10.49 (35.81)
8:46.21 (35.72) 9:22.01 (35.80)
9:57.92 (35.91) 10:33.69 (35.77)
11:09.45 (35.76) 11:45.39 (35.94)
12:21.27 (35.88) 12:56.87 (35.60)
13:32.58 (35.71) 14:08.32 (35.74)
14:44.01 (35.69) 15:19.74 (35.73)
15:55.44 (35.70) 16:31.12 (35.68)
17:06.44 (35.32) 17:40.56 (34.12)
7 *Ximena Conde M 21 Streamline Aquat 16:48.05Y 18:51.56
r:+0.69 33.21 1:09.26 (36.05)
1:45.64 (36.38) 2:22.22 (36.58)
2:59.16 (36.94) 3:36.15 (36.99)
4:13.41 (37.26) 4:51.16 (37.75)
5:28.57 (37.41) 6:06.23 (37.66)
6:43.27 (37.04) 7:21.26 (37.99)
7:58.94 (37.68) 8:37.02 (38.08)
9:14.88 (37.86) 9:53.41 (38.53)
10:31.66 (38.25) 11:10.46 (38.80)
11:48.86 (38.40) 12:27.75 (38.89)
13:05.75 (38.00) 13:44.52 (38.77)
14:22.86 (38.34) 15:01.60 (38.74)
15:39.93 (38.33) 16:18.93 (39.00)
16:57.33 (38.40) 17:36.09 (38.76)
18:13.90 (37.81) 18:51.56 (37.66)
Event 23 Women 200 LC Meter IM
==================================================================
World: W 2:06.12 8/3/2015 Katinka Hosszu, HUN
American: A 2:06.15 7/27/2009 Ariana Kukors, USA
U.S. Open: O 2:08.32 7/29/2018 Kathleen Baker, Team Elite-NC
Jr World: J 2:09.98 1/29/2017 Rikako Ikee, JPN
Pro Swim: P 2:08.66 2015 Katinka Hosszu
Pool: 2:10.70 8/6/2015 Caitlin Leverenz, California Aquat
Name Age Team Prelims Finals
==================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Melanie Margali 30 Saint Petersburg 2:15.58 2:12.39
r:+0.68 28.89 1:03.42 (34.53)
1:41.13 (37.71) 2:12.39 (31.26)
2 *Leah Polonsky 19 Unattached-PC 2:17.41 2:12.85
r:+0.68 28.65 1:02.80 (34.15)
1:40.80 (38.00) 2:12.85 (32.05)
3 Beata Nelson 23 Wisconsin Aquati 2:15.98 2:13.56
r:+0.73 27.88 1:02.11 (34.23)
1:41.74 (39.63) 2:13.56 (31.82)
4 *Diana Petkova 21 Univ Alabama Swi 2:17.61 2:16.11
r:+0.71 29.95 1:04.11 (34.16)
1:44.51 (40.40) 2:16.11 (31.60)
5 Mackenzie Looze 22 Indiana Universi 2:18.66 2:18.29
r:+0.67 29.80 1:06.65 (36.85)
1:45.50 (38.85) 2:18.29 (32.79)
6 *Gabriella Grob 22 Unattached-NT 2:18.94 2:19.79
r:+0.61 29.20 1:06.97 (37.77)
1:45.91 (38.94) 2:19.79 (33.88)
7 Lindsay Looney 20 Unattached-AZ 2:21.03 2:21.08
r:+0.66 29.07 1:06.12 (37.05)
1:48.73 (42.61) 2:21.08 (32.35)
8 *Nicole Frank R 18 Azura Florida Aq 2:19.42 2:21.56
r:+0.65 30.68 1:06.99 (36.31)
1:47.97 (40.98) 2:21.56 (33.59)
Event 25 Women 200 LC Meter Backstroke
==================================================================
World: W 2:03.35 7/26/2019 Regan Smith, USA
American: A 2:03.35 7/26/2019 Regan Smith, USA
U.S. Open: O 2:05.68 6/25/2013 Missy Franklin, Colorado STARS-C
Jr World: J 2:03.35 7/26/2019 Regan Smith, USA
Pro Swim: P 2:05.94 1/19/2020 Regan Smith, Riptide-MN
Pool: 2:09.44 8/9/2015 Claire Adams, Carmel Swim Club
Name Age Team Prelims Finals
==================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Rhyan White 22 Univ Alabama Swi 2:10.88 2:07.92
r:+0.65 30.05 1:02.38 (32.33)
1:35.26 (32.88) 2:07.92 (32.66)
2 Phoebe Bacon 19 Una WA-WI 2:10.66 2:09.52
r:+0.63 30.62 1:03.22 (32.60)
1:36.27 (33.05) 2:09.52 (33.25)
3 *Aviv Barzelay 19 Texas A & M Univ 2:13.41 2:10.79
r:+0.67 30.89 1:03.88 (32.99)
1:37.15 (33.27) 2:10.79 (33.64)
4 Hali Flickinger 27 Sun Devil Swimmi 2:13.81 2:11.23
r:+0.61 31.24 1:04.76 (33.52)
1:38.71 (33.95) 2:11.23 (32.52)
5 Gabby DeLoof 26 Club Wolverine-M 2:13.58 2:13.16
r:+0.66 31.52 1:04.80 (33.28)
1:38.95 (34.15) 2:13.16 (34.21)
6 *Barbara Schaal 20 Una GWU-PV 2:17.19 2:17.42
r:+0.61 31.55 1:06.11 (34.56)
1:41.94 (35.83) 2:17.42 (35.48)
7 Anna Peplowski 19 Indiana Universi 2:17.02 2:18.80
r:+0.71 32.32 1:07.17 (34.85)
1:42.89 (35.72) 2:18.80 (35.91)
8 Anna Freed 20 Indiana Universi 2:17.25 2:18.84
r:+0.71 32.67 1:07.49 (34.82)
1:43.00 (35.51) 2:18.84 (35.84)
Event 27 Women 100 LC Meter Freestyle
==================================================================
World: W 51.71 7/23/2017 Sarah Sjostrom, SWE
American: A 52.04 7/26/2019 Simone Manuel, USA
U.S. Open: O 52.54 7/25/2018 Simone Manuel, Stanford Swimmin
Jr World: J 52.70 8/11/2016 Penny Oleksiak, CAN
Pro Swim: P 53.12 2016 Sarah Sjostrom
Pool: 54.24 8/10/2015 Amanda Weir, SwimAtlanta
Name Age Team Prelims Finals
==================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Claire Curzan 17 TAC Titans-NC 54.58 53.68
r:+0.61 25.60 53.68 (28.08)
2 Erika Brown 23 Tennessee Aquati 54.58 54.08
r:+0.67 25.95 54.08 (28.13)
3 Natalie Hinds 28 Una GSC-FL 54.73 54.30
r:+0.61 25.90 54.30 (28.40)
4 Katie Ledecky 25 Una GSC-FL 54.72 54.93
r:+0.68 26.76 54.93 (28.17)
5 Mallory Comerfo 24 Cardinal Aquatic 55.11 54.95
r:+0.67 26.56 54.95 (28.39)
6 Paige Madden 23 Unattached-MR 55.26 54.96
r:+0.65 26.60 54.96 (28.36)
7 Kelly Pash 21 Univ of Texas-ST 55.36 55.55
r:+0.66 26.85 55.55 (28.70)
8 Chloe Stepanek 20 Texas A & M Univ 55.41 55.58
r:+0.66 26.81 55.58 (28.77)
