In the SwimSwam Podcast dive deeper into the sport you love with insider conversations about swimming. Hosted by Coleman Hodges, Garrett McCaffrey, and Gold Medal Mel Stewart, SwimSwam welcomes both the biggest names in swimming that you already know, and rising stars that you need to get to know, as we break down the past, present, and future of aquatic sports.
We sat down with 2020 Olympian and silver medalist in the women’s 400 medley relay, Claire Curzan. Curzan walks us through her summer, from her epic 3-event matchup with Torri Huske (both of whom would go on to make the Olympic team in the 100 fly), to Olympic Trials to Training camp to the Games themselves. Curzan also delves into what she did this summer to improve her first 15-meters, including focusing on a rowing motion to engage her arms off the start and focusing on hitting her underwater kick count with short, fast kicks.
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Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com
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Opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the interviewed guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of the hosts, SwimSwam Partners, LLC and/or SwimSwam advertising partners.
Can you imagine her going to Stanford? All the UVA and Cal fans about to be triggered.
No worries. She’ll just get slower at Stanford. Nothing to be triggered about other than how Meehan keeps screwing up US talent. And I’m no UVA or Cal fan.
The good news is she is taking her time and visiting the schools. She will make the best decision for her that meets her swimming and educational goals.
This years NCAA meet sets up to be epic!
Can we talk about how cute she is as well?
bonk
Hold up
Unless you’re like 16…eww!
I’m 18, she’s 17
No, on a swimming website the exciting thing about Claire is her swimming.
Sure there’s a thread on Reddit or something you can find like minded individuals to frot with.
Oh she is great swimmer though, 56. in the 100 fly at 16 is insane , I was just saying 😂
i feel like we’ve been spoiled by the new fly times in the past couple years but 56 low at any age is already crazy crazy impressive
Definitely headed to Stanford. How can she not? The history between the programs is night and day
“History” is a vague term that can relate to different periods of time. For example, if you define “history” as the last 2 years, the “history” is night and day – Stanford is sliding, their swimmers are all getting slower or burning out, their coach shuts down media, and they don’t have momentum. Meanwhile, Virginia put more swimmers on the Olympic Team, their swimmers are all getting faster, they’re getting all of the publicity they want, and their energy is off the charts. Virginia won the last NCAA title, and probably would have won the one before too if COVID hadn’t canceled it. The recruits that Virginia has coming in gives them a platform to be very good for a… Read more »
Didn’t Stanford win 2015-2019 NCAA titles? Not sure what you mean by the 90s?
Stanford won 2017-2019. Georgia won in 2016 and Cal won in 2015.
That’s just what it is, history. Stanford swimmers almost all underperformed at Trials, most of them were pretty terrible. Meehan barely put three women on the team when he has been handed most of the top swimmers coming out of high school for years. Ledecky made the team in spite of swimming poorly, Manuel barely made the team, and Forde made it by the skin of her teeth. Having more of our best headed to Stanford does not bode well for the future of USA Swimming.
This reminds me of all the reasons that Australia was destined to fare poorly in the Olympics. You guys love short term small sample above big picture logic
Ledecky swam well and won more individual events at US Trials and more gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics than the entire U Va womens team, won as many individual events (2) as any female swimmer in Tokyo, and helped to beat AUS in a relay. Curzan probably could have similar performance in 2024 if she is admitted to Stanford, but who knows, maybe even better? Ledecky won 8 NCAA titles, two National team titles, broke NCAA records 15 times, American records 11 times, and broke a WR and won six World Champ titles under Meehan, so there’s that too.
It’s very likely she would have done all that and more if she would have stayed with Gemmel.
Interesting she basically had an extended recruiting trip to narrow down her Stanford v UVA decision. I’m sure coaches and prospective, active and prior Cav & Cardinal swimmers were trying to influence her decision
Sounded like UVA has the advantage based on the podcast…
Was thinking the same
It was always going to be UVA. DeSorbo was the coach she worked with at the Olympics and training camp. Pretty sure her mind was made up before Trials
And that worked out so well for her?
You really think a few weeks of working with a swimmer is a good reflection on what will “work” for them?
No, but they at least get to see more of how a coach carries themselves on deck and conducts practices, seeing that unfiltered outside of an official trip is a rare find precommitment.
Yes, but Ncaafan is referring to the fact that her Olympic performance was not as well as she has probably hoped for, indirectly blaming Desorbo.
Gotcha, appreciate the clarification
I wasn’t sure if you could deduce that from the podcast. I think she will make a decision after her visit. It seems that she has held out her decision this long, I would say Stanford has an edge. She has been taking AP classes. It shows academics is important to her. She wanted to see how the campus was….and we all know Stanford campus is one of the best in the world. It is super beautiful and the facility is world-class.
Besides, her teammate Hook had committed to Stanford. Torri and Regan would be there….along with Ledecky. Those are all pluses. It also seems that Claire has a good relationship with Douglas and Walsh as well. So who knows.… Read more »
Oh, I haven’t listened to this podcast yet. Just basing it off of conversations with [redacted] about what program she said was leading the way. Things can change, though! Who knows what the impact of the Olympics and the swimmers had on her, as well as working with DeSorbo and other coaches. I probably didn’t give that enough weight before my comment.
Please listen to the podcast. She gave a good interview. She did talk about the training in Hawaii with Desorbo’s group. She did mention that Greg’s group was right next to her training the IM…and they were tough. She mentioned about going everywhere with Torri because their training was the same since they had the same event (100 fly).
Coleman asked about the college and she said she wanted to see the campus and Stanford and UVA were her two choices. Coleman said her teammate Hook committed to Stanford…So there was no indication yet where she was leaning towards. I think both programs are great. I definitely would be thrilled if she chose Stanford. The education and the alumni… Read more »
It’s odd she has waited this long, although I imagine she wanted to keep the focus on Trials and not on the college decision. Typically when a swimmer waits this long it’s usually a sign for Stanford. But I agree, seems like UVA is the place for Claire.
It’s certainly out of the ordinary for her to wait this long.
But also, good for her for doing so. Anywhere she wants to go will definitely keep a roster spot open, and her parents (who are both very successful doctors) have given her the freedom to risk that a full ride might not be there, though I’d guess both schools are at least holding some money for her.
It’s great to see an athlete in the unique position to push against this chaotic commitment system, one that almost everybody hates but one that nobody really seems ready to slow down, do so.
I’m sure any school in the NCAA would give her whatever money is left, and if it’s less than 100% full ride, they would promise to bump her to 100% for year 2. So the out-of-pocket expense would very limited. That gives her the luxury to wait as long as she wants. And, oh, BTW — she’s of the caliber that she’ll be adding some serious NIL $$$ to her life sooner than later.
Family weights on geography quite a bit in the witching hours before a final decision is made. At bottom, if it is Stanford that’s goodbye Mom & Dad, goodbye siblings, goodbye hometown friends. The costs & the logistics to return home for a fall break, or other long weekend breaks, is difficult. The likelihood her parents could attend her meets would be greatly diminished as well, regardless of costs or affordability of those costs. But The Farm is a spectacular place.
If it comes to UVa, that’s a great school in a great place for academics, social & athletics where the geographic challenges, family impacts, are less. Charlottesville & The Grounds are a spectacular place.
It’s an embarrassment of… Read more »
“You get to go short course…in Hawaii…rainbows.” She’s a great interview.