Claire Curzan Becomes 1st Sub-22 14&U 50 Freestyler in History – 21.89

2019 ESSZ Age Group Championships

  • March 14-19, 2019
  • Georiga Tech McAuley Center, Atlanta, Georgia
  • SCY
  • Results on Meet Mobile – search “ESSZ”

A week after missing Gretchen Walsh‘s 13-14 50 freestyle National Age Group record by just .01,  the TAC Titans’ Claire Curzan obliterated it Saturday evening in Atlanta at the 2019 ESSZ Age Group Championships.

Curzan, 14, went 21.89 to become the first 14-and-under girl in history to break 22 seconds. The next-fastest swimmer, Morgan Carteaux, finished in 23.37.

In addition to topping the 13-14 ranks, the high school freshman Cruzan is now the second-fastest 16-and-under swimmer in history, behind only Gretchen Walsh‘s 21.82

Top 5 Performers in History: 13-14 Girls 50 Freestyle

  1. Claire Curzan, 21.89 – 2019
  2. Gretchen Walsh, 22.00 – 2017
  3. Kate Douglass, 22.32 – 2016
  4. Dara Torres, 22.44 – 1982
  5. Annika Korb, 22.46 – 2018

Top 5 Performers in History: 16&U Girls 50 Freestyle

  1. Gretchen Walsh, 21.81 – 2018
  2. Claire Curzan, 21.89 – 2019
  3. Torri Huske, 21.95 – 2019
  4. Simone Manuel/Kate Douglass, 22.04 – 2013/2016
  5. Alex Walsh, 22.08 – 2018

Watch the race below, courtesy of the TAC Titans:

Curzan has been on fire over the past month. In February, she broke both the short course 100 and 200 fly 13-14 NAG records on consecutive weekends. Last weekend at Cary Sectionals, Curzan broke Missy Franklin’s 13-14 100 freestyle NAG record, going 47.67.

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SwimGeek
5 years ago

Amazing swim. Is this her last meet as a 13-14? Anyone know when she ages up?

Admin
Reply to  SwimGeek
5 years ago

She doesn’t age up until the summer.

Taa
5 years ago

Eh I once had a pet dolphin that was faster

Admin
Reply to  Taa
5 years ago

Video or it didn’t happen.

Ol' Longhorn
5 years ago

Yeah, and she had neither a starting wedge nor a modern suit.

Hswimmer
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
5 years ago

She could have easily been 21 low modern times back then with a tech suit and wedge

googoodoll
Reply to  Hswimmer
5 years ago

Yes and imagine how fast the athletes could have swim in the 1940s if they wore tech suits instead of the old wool body suits. They dove off the edge of the pool as there were no “start blocks”, Lane lines were ropes, shallow pool, cloudy water, no goggles, terrible gutter systems, hand touch on the FREESTYLE FLIP TURN!!! AND had to swim uphill both ways. The sand dial timing system was unreliable. The training was rigorous as some of the swimmers trained 3 or 4 times a week with some practices getting up to 1500 yards!!!

Michael
Reply to  googoodoll
5 years ago

This comment is highly underrated.

Hswimmer
Reply to  Michael
5 years ago

We would be faster than sharks now 😂😂

Hswimmer
5 years ago

I was thinking the same she’s very underrated!!

Pvdh
5 years ago

haha I suck

Wild Bill
5 years ago

The positive impact of competition

googoodoll
Reply to  Wild Bill
5 years ago

Its all this dang underwater kicking Im telling you!!! Some poor kid is gonna pop a lung and come up coughing blood and green stuff and I don’t want that to happen. I say limit the underwater off the start and turn to 10 meters. Thats plenty far and safer for the youth of America!!! So what if a kid goes 21 in the 50 and really gets hurt. To push these boundaries in very unhealthy and thats a fact.

UCSwim
Reply to  googoodoll
5 years ago

What’s unhealthy about this? Holding ones breath for 15 yards is not a health concern for the youth of America…

And
Reply to  googoodoll
5 years ago

I don’t know why whenever someone breaks any sort of barrier, someone has to comment this. They train to hold their breath underwater for like 7 seconds I think they’re fine.

Jimbo
Reply to  And
5 years ago

Um how about no. We don’t enjoy stupidity here

Blackflag82
Reply to  googoodoll
5 years ago

Back in the day before all this underwater kicking is was pretty normal for practices to have whole sets like no-breath second 25 of a 50 or no breath on the third 25 of a 100. No one every burst a lung from those sets. At 14 my 50 free was a breath at the flags on the first 25 and that was it, and my lungs are still intact. Breath control is nothing new, what’s new is that the current generation is using that control in a more advantageous way.

Drewbrewsbeer
Reply to  googoodoll
5 years ago

We did unsafe things when I was training as an age grouper, like 100y underwater nobreather tier stupid. 15 meters is not a big deal for an athlete.

The Ready Room
Reply to  googoodoll
5 years ago

We got a new troll guys don’t engage

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  The Ready Room
5 years ago

INDEED – and a Big one LOL

Michael
Reply to  googoodoll
5 years ago

Explain to me what the difference is between swimming underwater to 15 meters off of both walls versus swimming those first 15 meters without taking a breath? Because with this logic, you might as well start enforcing mandatory breathing patterns for the 50, 100, and 200 free.

CBswims
Reply to  googoodoll
5 years ago

Didn’t I meet you on a corner where you were preaching end times?

On a serious note, it’s great to be concerned for kids safety, but there’s 0 science behind your concerns. swimming already limits under-waters (interestingly, not out of safety concerns).

Wild Bill
5 years ago

There is biological age and athletic age. How long has she been swimming? Has she developed gills?

Wild Bill
5 years ago

She could final in the NCAAs!

About Torrey Hart

Torrey Hart

Torrey is from Oakland, CA, and majored in media studies and American studies at Claremont McKenna College, where she swam distance freestyle for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps team. Outside of SwimSwam, she has bylines at Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, SB Nation, and The Student Life newspaper.

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