Brooks Curry Got Sick During U.S. Nationals, Missed 50 Free

2025 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Two-time U.S. Olympian Brooks Curry withdrew from the final day of the U.S. National Championships on Saturday with an undisclosed illness. The 24-year-old did not qualify for the American team at the World Championships.

“All of the preparation in the world won’t prevent you from getting sick,” Curry said in a social media post. “Sometimes all you can do is shake your head and move on. Unfortunately I’ll be stepping away from the competition this week to get healthy again. I’ll see you next time.”

The 24-year-old who trains at Cal won the B-Final of the 100 free in 47.96 and was 7th in the B-Final of the 200 free in 1:47.50. In spite of the illness, the 100 free time was just .06 seconds shy of his best; his prelims 200 free time of 1:46.33 was within half-a-second of his best time.

His best time in the 50 free was a 21.84 from a local meet in June 2023 before leaving LSU. That time is only .16 shy of what Santo Condorelli swam to take the 2nd individual spot in the 50 free on Saturday evening.

Curry began his collegiate career at LSU, winning an SEC title in the 100 yard free. Two years year later, he was the NCAA Champion in both the 50 and 100 yard freestyles.

He eventually moved to California to train in Berkeley as a post-grad with the Cal Golden Bears a year later, still with his COVID-19 season of eligibility available. He was initially scheduled to swim for Cal at the ACC Championships last season, but new questions by the NCAA over his eligibility prevented that from happening.

Curry had become a relay fixture for Team USA. In Tokyo, he won a gold medal as part of the 400 free relay and in Paris he won a silver medal as part of the 800 free relay. He also won three relay medals (one of each color) at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest.

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Neffry
14 hours ago

47.9 while sick… Hope he gets healthy and puts the pedal down in training. Will he get another chance at an international meet this summer?

Spieker Pool Lap Swimmer
15 hours ago

Hope he sticks around.

Wanna Sprite?
Reply to  Spieker Pool Lap Swimmer
13 hours ago

He wants to swim in LA I guarantee he will stick around and be a key piece of the relay

Flatlander
15 hours ago

Such a bummer. This guy has always been game to race and bring his A game. Sickness at your big taper meet is one of the nightmares of this sport. Wishing a fast and full recovery.

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Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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