Watch: Curzan Clocks America’s Fastest 200 Back Since 2019 (Pac-12 Race Videos)

2023 WOMEN’S PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

The final session of the 2023 women’s Pac-12 Conference Championships saw Claire Curzan swim a 1:47.34 in the 200 back to break Kathleen Baker‘s Pac-12 Championship record from 2018. Curzan’s swim is America’s fastest 200 yard back since 2019 when Regan Smith posted a 1:47.16. Earlier, USC’s Nike Agunbiade won the platform diving event and became the first Black woman to win two Pac-12 Championships diving titles. She also won 3-meter at this meet in 2021.

While the Pac-12 Networks Youtube did not upload full race videos, as they did for the other sessions, check out clips of the events from the Pac-12 Conference Instagram below.

Women’s Platform Diving – Final

  • NCAA Record: 396.75, Haley Ishimatsu (USC) – 2013
  • PAC-12 Record: 383.35, Delaney Schnell (Arizona) – 2021
  • PAC-12 Championship Record:
  • 383.35, Delaney Schnell (Arizona) – 2021

Top 3:

  1. Nike Agunbiade (USC) – 333.10
  2. Delaney Schnell (Arizona) – 325.05
  3. Eden Cheng (UCLA) – 324.60

With this win, USC senior Nike Agunbiade is now the first Black woman to win two Pac-12 Championship diving titles after she won 3-meter in 2021.

WOMEN’S 1650 FREESTYLE — TIMED FINAL

  • NCAA Record: 15:03.31, Katie Ledecky (STAN) – 2017 Art Adamson Invite
  • PAC-12 Record: 15:03.31, Katie Ledecky (STAN) – 2017 Art Adamson Invite
  • PAC-12 Championship Record: 15:40.17, Cierra Runge (CAL) — 2017 PAC-12 Championships
  • NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 15:52.41
  • 2022 NCAA Invite Time: 16:16.47

Top 3:

  1. Aurora Roghair (STAN) – 16:02.28
  2. Marlene Kahler (USC) – 16:15.12
  3. Katherine Randall (ASU) – 16:17.15

Stanford’s Roghair had an early, but narrow lead, flipping .08 ahead of USC’s Kahler at the 500-yard mark. By the 1000, that margin turned into four seconds, and with 100 yards to go she had established a lead of 12 seconds.

WOMEN’S 200 BACKSTROKE — FINALS

  • NCAA Record: 1:47.24, Beata Nelson (WISC) – 2019 NCAA Championships
  • Pac-12 Record: 1:47.30, Kathleen Baker (CAL) — 2018
  • Pac-12 Championship Record: 1:48.27, Kathleen Baker (CAL) — 2018
  • NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:50.50
  • 2022 NCAA Invite Time: 1:53.97

Top 3:

  1. Claire Curzan (STAN) – 1:47.43 (Meet Record)
  2. Isabelle Stadden (CAL) – 1:48.75
  3. Annika McEnroe (CAL) – 1:52.61

Stanford’s Curzan crushed the Pac-12 Championship record held by Cal alumnus and 2016 Olympian Kathleen Baker. Curzan’s time took .84 off the previous mark that Baker set in 2018.

WOMEN’S 100 FREESTYLE — FINALS

  • NCAA Record: 45.56, Simone Manuel (STAN) – 2017 NCAA Championships
  • Pac-12 Record: 45.56, Simone Manuel (STAN) – 2017 NCAA Championships
  • Pac-12 Championship Record: 46.35, Abbey Weitzeil (CAL) — 2019
  • NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 47.18
  • 2022 NCAA Invite Time: 48.44

Top 3:

  1. Torri Huske (STAN) – 47.18
  2. Rachel Rhee (UCLA) – 48.00
  3. Kayla Wilson (STAN) – 48.21

With this victory, sophomore Torri Huske is 6-6 in Pac-12 Championship titles in individual races. She split the race 10.56/11.84, earning a .4 second lead at the halfway point that only grew.

WOMEN’S 200 BREASTSTROKE — FINALS

  • NCAA Record: 2:01.43, Kate Douglass (UVA) – 2023 Cavalier Invitational
  • Pac-12 Record: 2:04.75, Rebecca Soni (USC) — 2009
  • Pac-12 Championship Record: 2:04.75, Rebecca Soni (USC) — 2009
  • NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 2:06.18
  • 2022 NCAA Invite Time: 2:09.15

Top 3:

  1. Kaitlyn Dobler (USC) – 2:05.66
  2. Isabelle Odgers (USC) – 2:06.66
  3. Emily Lundgren (WSU) – 2:08.33

Trojans Kaitlyn Dobler and Isabelle Odgers pushed each other in this event. Dobler had the front speed (28.67 compared to Odgers’s 29.17) and finishing speed (splitting 31.95/32.53 on the last two 50’s compared to Odger’s 32.66/32.86). But, Odgers caught up some ground on that second 50 with a blistering sub-32 split (31.97 compared to Dobler’s 32.51). With this swim, Dobler swept the breaststroke events.

WOMEN’S 200 BUTTERFLY — FINALS

  • NCAA Record: 1:49.51, Ella Eastin (STAN) – 2018 Pac-12 Championships
  • Pac-12 Record: 1:49.51, Ella Eastin (STAN) – 2018 Pac-12 Championships
  • Pac-12 Championship Record: 1:49.51, Ella Eastin (STAN) — 2018
  • NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:52.86
  • 2022 NCAA Invite Time: 1:56.14

Top 3:

  1. Lindsay Looney (ASU) – 1:52.68
  2. Charlotte Hook (STAN) – 1:52.90
  3. Rachel Klinker (CAL) – 1:53.57

This was one of the tightest races of the night, even though it was led by Lindsay Looney for all eight lengths. On the final 50, Stanford freshman Charlotte Hook blasted a 29.09 (compared to Looney’s 29.75) and nearly closed in on her.

WOMEN’S 400 FREE RELAY — FINALS

  • NCAA Record: 3:06.83, Virginia – 2023 ACC Championships
  • PAC-12 Record: 3:06.96, California — 2019 NCAA Championships
  • PAC-12 Championship Record: 3:07.41, California — 2019 PAC-12 Championships
  • NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:14.10

Top 3:

  1. Stanford (Ruck, Wilson, Huske, Curzan) – 3:08.83
  2. Cal (Spitz, Davidson, Stadden, Riley) – 3:13.83
  3. USC (Henderson, Garcia, Dobler, Kuchler) – 3:14.12

Stanford’s quartet of senior Taylor Ruck (47.54) and underclassmen Kayla Wilson (47.40), Torri Huske (46.74), and Claire Curzan (47.15) clocked the fastest splits on each leg to secure the win, and ultimately, the 2023 Pac-12 Conference Championship title.

Final Team Scores

  1. Stanford – 1725.5
  2. USC – 1267.5
  3. California – 1260.5
  4. UCLA – 1030.5
  5. ASU – 837
  6. Arizona – 607
  7. Utah – 594
  8. Washington State – 420

In This Story

2
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

2 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Zippo
1 year ago

Is Curzan a sprint butterflyer or distance backstroker? Is Huske a butterflyer or freestyler? The versatility of these kids is so unfair.

Justin Pollard
1 year ago

Don’t sleep on Isabelle Stadden in the 200 back at NCAAs. Now that the Cal women are under Dave and Dave, you know she’ll peak at the right time. 1:47 is likely.

About Annika Johnson

Annika Johnson

Annika came into the sport competitively at age eight, following in the footsteps of her twin sister and older brother. The sibling rivalry was further fueled when all three began focusing on distance freestyle, forcing the family to buy two lap counters. Annika is a three-time Futures finalist in the 200 …

Read More »