Claire Curzan Sticks With 100 Back, 200 Back, 100 Fly Lineup for NCAA Championship Meet

2026 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• Wednesday, March 18 – Saturday, March 21, 2026
• McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, GA
• Defending Champions: Virginia (5x)
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University of Virginia redshirt junior Claire Curzan will stick with the 100 fly, 100 back, 200 back lineup at the NCAA Championships, the same three individual events that she raced at ACCs.

This is noteworthy for two reasons: one is that it is a different lineup than she swam at last year’s ACC Championships, and two is that Virginia’s versatile star swimmers have a big history of changing event lineups between conference and national championship meets (see Alex Walsh, Kate Douglass).

At last year’s NCAA Championship meet, Curzan finished 2nd in the 50 free behind the now-graduated Gretchen Walsh, 1st in the 100 back, and 1st in the 200 back.

Her choice of the backstroke races was the safest bet for repeat titles – especially after breaking the U.S. Open Record in the 200 at the ACC Championships. While there are good swimmers in both events, neither field is as strong is it has been in the past few years, especially with Bella Sims skipping the 200 back.

While Curzan’s 21.11 from last year’s NCAA Championships makes her the best returning performer from that race, four swimmers (Camille Spink, Torri Huske, Brady Kendall, and Sara Curtis) are all seeded faster than that time this year.

This does set up a monstrous showdown between Curzan and her former Stanford teammate Torri Huske in the 100 fly. Huske is seeded at 48.26 and Curzan at 48.47. Both swimmers went best times in the race at the ACC Championships, with Huske ultimately winning.

Only three other swimmers are seeded under 49 seconds in that 100 fly: Alex Shackell of Indiana (49.95), Gigi Johnson from Stanford (49.95), and Miranda Grana from Indiana (49.98). From a scoring perspective, with Virginia chasing a 6th-straight NCAA title, that makes the 100 fly a less-volatile choice.

The new NCAA Championship schedule also kind of leads Curzan to this lineup. Last year, the 50 free was on a separate day from the 100 back, while the 100 fly conflicted. This year, the 100 fly moves to day 2, while the 50 free comes a few events after the 100 back. With the 400 medley relay on the same day, that would have meant a triple if Curzan swam the same lineup as last year.