Virginia’s Sara Curtis Set For Showdowns in 50 Free, 100 Free, 100 Fly for 2026 NCAA Championships

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)
• Championship Central
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Virginia freshman Sara Curtis will look to cap off her first season with the Cavaliers, racing the 50 and 100 freestyle as well as the 100 butterfly at the NCAA Championships.

Curtis is coming off the ACC Championships, where she set lifetime bests in two of her NCAA events, the 50 free (21.09) and 100 free (46.03), winning the 50 and touching 3rd in the 100. She also raced the 100 fly, finishing 5th in 50.70, just missing her best time from the Cavalier Invite in 50.68.

Curtis enters these championships in great positions for a freshman, as she sits tied for 3rd in the 50 free, 4th in the 100 free, and 12th in the 100 fly. The only event she could have left out was the 100 back, as her leadoff leg of the Virginia 400 medley relay at ACCs of 50.07 ranks her 7th fastest in the nation this season. The complication is that it falls on the same day as the 50 free, though the 200 breast and 500 free are between the 100 back and 50 free on day 3 of racing.

Hypothetically, she could have opted for this, but she would likely already be racing on that 400 medley relay that same day, which would have made for a daunting three-race finals session. This lineup she is entered in gives her the freedom to race one individual and one relay each day, aside from day one, where she will likely only race the 200 medley relay.

Curtis has had a very productive year in the 50 free, only swimming two times over 21.45, and dipping under 21.20 four times. She will be tested by a stacked field, including top seed Camille Spink of Tennessee, who is the only sub-21-second entrant in this event on the season in 20.87, and Stanford’s Torri Huske in 21.01. Michigan’s Brady Kendall ties Curtis at 21.09 for the 3rd fastest performers this season, with those four swimmers sitting as the only performers under 21.021 this season.

Just over three-tenths of a second separates Curtis from the 100 free top seed, Virginia teammate Anna Moesch (45.71), with Huske (45.79) and Spink (46.01) making up the rest of the top three. Curtis and fellow first years Liberty Clark of Indiana (5th) and Texas’ Eva Okaro (6th) just behind the leading pack.

The 100 fly seems like the biggest stretch for Curtis to find her way onto the podium, having not cracked 52 seconds until the Cavalier Invite in February, though she would go under 51 three times since, including her best time at that Cavalier Invite in 50.68. Curtis sits less than a second off of 3rd seeds Gigi Johnson and Indiana’s Alex Shackell’s 49.95, showing the possibility of earning a lane for the championship final on night four.