NCAA Women’s Championships: Claire Curzan Leads Off in 20.85, Sara Curtis Anchors Virginia to 200 Free Relay Win
The University of Virginia women have been dominant in the sprint relays for the past four years, winning every single conference and national title in the event when star sisters Gretchen Walsh and Alex Walsh were on the roster. Now, with both out of eligibility, their teammates have carried on that winning tradition, albeit in slightly more dramatic fashion than normal, in the 200 freestyle relay.
Claire Curzan, the lone returner from last year’s title-winning relay, set the tone early as she clobbered her lifetime best performance in the 50 free. Touching the wall in 20.85, Curzan became the fourth-fastest swimmer ever in the event, with only Gretchen Walsh, Maggie Mac Neil and Kate Douglass ahead of her. Previously, Curzan owned a best time of 21.11.
Through the middle legs, though, the race became much tighter. Bryn Greenwaldt, a former Division II standout now completing a Masters degree at Virginia, went second but could not hold onto the lead as Stanford’s Torri Huske, Indiana’s Kristina Paegle, Michigan’s Brady Kendall ripped through the field. That put Anna Moesch in position to play catch-up, just as she did on the anchor leg of the 800 free relay Wednesday night.
Fresh off her first career individual NCAA title in the 200 free, Moesch went 21.75 on the third portion of the race, putting Virginia back into the lead by two hundredths over Stanford. From there, it was all over as Sara Curtis dove in to handle anchor duties. The Italian has provided a huge boost for Virginia in the sprint events this year, and a 20.55 leg on the way home allowed Virginia to seal up victory.
Virginia swam a final time of 1:24.11, within a half-second of the American record set by the Cavaliers’ team of both Walsh sisters, Jasmine Nocentini and Maxine Parker in 2024. The team just missed the meet record of 1:24.05, set by those same four swimmers, as well as the pool record of 1:23.75 that Greenwaldt, Curzan, Moesch and Curtis posted at the ACC Championships last month.
As Curtis pulled away down the stretch, the battle for second came into focus. Louisville appeared to get to the wall in second position, but anchor swimmer Ella Welch was disqualified for a false start. That allowed Stanford to claim the 34 points for the runnerup spot in 1:25.57. Huske crushed a 20.58 split on the second leg while Annam Olasewere, Gigi Johnson and Lucy Thomas also raced for the Cardinal.
Indiana, with a team of Liberty Clark, Paegle, Grace Hoeper and Alex Shackell, ended up third in 1:25.66, with Michigan fourth (1:25.92) ahead of Cal (1:26.10). Michigan’s Kendall went 20.75 on the second leg while Tennessee had Camille Spink, previously the fastest swimmer in the country this season before Curzan’s leadoff, go 21.00 on the opening leg. Louisville’s DQ nullified its result, but Dennis still managed a clean 20.79 on her split.
Event 9 Women 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
==================================================================================
NCAA: N 1:23.63 2/21/2024 Virginia
J Nocentini, G Walsh, A Walsh, M Parker
Meet: M 1:24.05 3/21/2024 Virginia
J Nocentini, G Walsh, A Walsh, M Parker
American: A 1:23.87 2/15/2023 Virginia
K Douglass, G Walsh, A Cuomo, A Walsh
US Open: O 1:23.63 2/21/2024 Virginia
J Nocentini, G Walsh, A Walsh, M Parker
Pool: P 1:23.75 2/18/2026 Virginia
B Greenwaldt, C Curzan, A Moesch S Curtis
School Seed Finals Points
==================================================================================
1 Virginia 1:23.75 1:24.11 40
1) Curzan, Claire JR 2) r:0.27 Greenwaldt, Bryn SR
3) r:0.21 Moesch, Anna SO 4) r:0.40 Curtis, Sara FR
r:+0.64 10.00 20.85 (20.85)
31.29 (10.44) 42.60 (21.75)
52.61 (10.01) 1:03.56 (20.96)
1:13.31 (9.75) 1:24.11 (20.55)
2 Stanford 1:25.14 1:25.57 34
1) Olasewere, Annam FR 2) r:0.20 Huske, Torri SR
3) r:+0.23 Johnson, Gigi SR 4) r:0.24 Thomas, Lucy JR
r:+0.60 10.38 21.56 (21.56)
31.28 (9.72) 42.14 (20.58)
52.21 (10.07) 1:03.58 (21.44)
1:13.96 (10.38) 1:25.57 (21.99)
3 Indiana 1:26.20 1:25.67 32
1) Clark, Liberty FR 2) r:0.17 Paegle, Kristina SR
3) r:0.40 Hoeper, Grace FR 4) r:0.06 Shackell, Alex FR
r:+0.59 10.40 21.27 (21.27)
31.06 (9.79) 42.27 (21.00)
52.77 (10.50) 1:04.32 (22.05)
1:14.33 (10.01) 1:25.67 (21.35)
4 Michigan 1:25.44 1:25.92 30
1) Greenhawt, Lexi JR 2) r:-0.02 Kendall, Brady SR
3) r:0.21 Balduccini, Steanie JR 4) r:0.37 Fack, Leila SO
r:+0.64 10.51 21.79 (21.79)
31.39 (9.60) 42.53 (20.74)
52.90 (10.37) 1:04.20 (21.67)
1:14.45 (10.25) 1:25.92 (21.72)
5 California 1:25.67 1:26.10 28
1) Moluh, Mary-Ambre SO 2) r:0.22 West, Mia SO
3) r:0.28 O'Dell, Teagan FR 4) r:0.48 Griscavage, Sydney SR
r:+0.68 10.42 21.53 (21.53)
31.51 (9.98) 42.68 (21.15)
52.96 (10.28) 1:04.40 (21.72)
1:14.68 (10.28) 1:26.10 (21.70)
6 Tennessee 1:26.27 1:26.25 26
1) Spink, Camille JR 2) r:0.31 Bocska, Julianna FR
3) r:0.22 Crooks, Jillian SO 4) r:0.07 Armen, Emily SO
r:+0.64 10.04 21.00 (21.00)
31.30 (10.30) 42.65 (21.65)
53.06 (10.41) 1:04.55 (21.90)
1:14.73 (10.18) 1:26.25 (21.70)
7 Texas 1:26.62 1:26.42 24
1) Okaro, Eva FR 2) r:0.07 Nesty, Lillian SO
3) r:0.18 Mehraban, Lucy JR 4) r:0.31 Gemmell, Erin JR
r:+0.67 10.46 21.66 (21.66)
31.87 (10.21) 43.26 (21.60)
53.41 (10.15) 1:04.66 (21.40)
1:15.00 (10.34) 1:26.42 (21.76)
8 NC State 1:26.33 1:26.45 22
1) Christianson, Lily SO 2) r:0.30 Nel, Olivia SR
3) r:0.33 Pelaez, Erika SO 4) r:0.18 Moses, Casaundra SR
r:+0.63 10.49 21.68 (21.68)
31.90 (10.22) 42.98 (21.30)
53.23 (10.25) 1:04.43 (21.45)
1:14.70 (10.27) 1:26.45 (22.02)
