David Curtiss Takes 0.16s Off Own 50 FR National Independent HS Record at 19.26

Against a dual meet with Wilberforce School on Wednesday, Pennington School senior David Curtiss set a massive lifetime best in the 50-yard free leading off his school’s 200 free relay, clocking in a 19.26. This is all coming nearly two months after he nailed 21.87 in the 50-meter free to win the 2021 January Pro Swim Series.

That time knocks 0.16s off his own national independent high school record of 19.42, which he at the 2020 Easterns Scholastic Championships in February of last year.  Oklahoma native Aiden Hayes currently holds the national overall and public high school records of 19.20, set last week at his state’s championship meet.

Curtiss, an NC State commit, would rank 19th in the NCAA at this point in the season. However, it is the fastest time from an NC State swimmer this season, just one one-hundredth ahead of current sophomore Noah Henderson (19.27). Henderson’s lead-off time, however, was the slowest split on NC State’s 200 free relay at the 2021 ACC Championships, which did not have any seniors.

Curtiss also moves up to #7 all-time in 17-18 age group history. There is almost a three-tenths difference between the top five sub-19 group and the 6th-fastest swimmer, Hayes. Curtiss now ties with Matt King, who swam 19.26 at the 2020 UT Double Dual Finals in November. This is now the 6th swim to enter the top-10 all-time 17-18 performers since November 2020.

The fastest high schooler in the 50-yard free is Ryan Hoffer‘s 18.71. The next fastest time by a high schooler was Caeleb Dressel, who hit 18.94 when he was just 17 years old.

All-Time 17-18 Boys Rankings- 50 FR SCY

1. 18.67, Caeleb Dressel (2015)
2. 18.71, Ryan Hoffer (2016)
3. 18.76, Adam Chaney (2021)
4. 18.88, Michael Andrew (2018)/Matt Brownstead (2021)
5. –
6. 19.20, Aiden Hayes (2021)
7. 19.26, Matt King (2020)/David Curtiss (2021)
8. –
9. 19.29, Jake Houck (2021)
10. 19.35, Drew Kibler (2018)