2 NAG Records in One Race Mark Day 3 Finals at TAC Titans Premier Invitational

2021 TAC TITANS LONG COURSE PREMIER MEET

• Thursday, April 8 – Sunday, April 11, 2021
• Triangle Aquatic Center, Cary, North Carolina
• Long Course Meters (50 meters), Prelims/Finals
• Meet Central
• Live Stream
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results

In what will go down in history as one of the most thrilling 100 fly races outside of Olympic Trials, Claire Curzan of TAC Titans and Torri Huske of Arlington Aquatic Club each took down a National Age Group Record in the 100 fly. Curzan, who won the race with 56.20, lowered her own 15-16 NAG which had stood at 56.61 since November 2020. Huske, who touched second in 56.69, erased Regan Smith’s mark of 57.34, established last March at PSS Des Moines.

Curzan remains #2 in the world so far this season, while Huske jumps to #4.

With two months left before U.S. Olympic Trials, Curzan and Huske rank #1 and #2 on the prospective list for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team in the 100 fly.

Coleman Stewart of Wolfpack Elite won the men’s 100 fly in 52.58, his second-best time of the year. Stewart went 52.19 in January at Richmond. His personal best is a 52.11 from 2017 World University Games. Wolfpack Elite teammate Jack Saunderson was second with 53.19; he was 52.96 at Richmond. Matt Josa was third to the wall in 54.13.

Sam Stewart won the 400 IM with a Wave 2 time of 4:21.27. It was his best performance of the season and his fastest 400 IM since March 2020 when he notched a 4:16.74. TAC’s Lance Norris was runner-up in 4:23.60, improving on his prelims time of 4:25.68. Norris, whose PB coming into the meet was 4:27.23, booked his entry to Omaha in prelims and narrowly missed the Wave 1 qualification time in finals.

Emma Barksdale of Gamecock Swimming secured her Wave 2 spot with a 4:46.19 win in the women’s 400 IM.

Other Winners and Noteworthy Results:

• 16-year-old Erin Gemmell of NCAP swam to a 1:59.28 PB in the 200 free, winning by 3.7 seconds ahead of teammate Camille Spink (2:02.82). Already qualified for Wave 2, Gemmell has now registered three sub-2:00 200 free performances. Her previous PB was 1:59.69 from PSS Richmond in January. Spink took .05 off her previous lifetime best but fell 1.1 seconds short of qualifying for Trials.
• TAC’s Michael Cotter added a win in the 200 free (1:49.90) to his 400 free victory from Friday night. Cotter had shaved 1.2 seconds off his PB in prelims this morning, just making the Wave 2 cut with 1:49.62. NCAC’s Sam Hoover was second with 1:50.92. He was faster at U.S. Open in November when he qualified for Trials with a Wave 1 cut of 1:50.74.
• UNC junior Sophie Lindner (2:13.03), representing NCAC, won the 200 back by a comfortable margin over TAC’s Charlotte Hook (2:14.21) and NCAP’s Mackenzie McConagha (2:14.99). Lindner’s best time in the event is 2:11.33 from December 2020. Hook dropped 1.3 seconds from her previous PB and notched a Wave 1 qualifying time for Olympic Trials.
• NCAC’s Brandon Miller came from behind to touch out J.T. Ewing of FISH in the men’s 200 back final, 2:02.60 to 2:02.88. Miller had earned a Wave 2 qualification in December, making the cut by .01 with 2:00.80. Ewing qualified for Wave 1 in Richmond and was only .07 off that qualifying time here in Cary. Finishing third was Matt Van Deusen of NCAP finished third with 2:03.35. Van Deusen had taken 12.1 seconds off his previous LCM best in prelims, going 2:02.91 to make the Wave 1 standard with .08 to spare.