Claire Curzan Speeds to Silver, Credits Young Teammates for Inspiring ‘Us Old Farts’ at Pan Pacs
Claire Curzan has had an incredibly polarizing Pan Pacific Championships.
The American star has been at or near her best in most of her events, setting multiple meet records along the way.
But those meet records have been overtaken my teammates later in the meet, causing her to be in several B finals instead of A finals because of the meet format.
In the 200 backstroke, Curzan was again near her best and set a meet record in prelims, only to have it topped by her teammate Regan Smith.
This time, she was second overall and made the A final, where she finished with the silver medal, completing a 1-2 finish with Smith. Curzan went a 2:06.44 in finals.
“I feel like I did a great job this week. Things are kind of out of my hands. The podium means the world. My goal was to podium tonight. I haven’t swam right next to Regan except once at worlds,” Claire Curzan said. “Going a 2:05 in the morning, which I have never done before, was a great mouse hunt for me. Then just being able to try and finish strong tonight was a win in itself.”
Curzan also found another gear in the final 50, gaining on Smith until the final 5 meters.
It was something she wasn’t expecting out of her race, especially after giving so much in her 2:05 swim during prelims.
“I feel like a lot of the summer our training was quite unusual. I wasn’t the most confident in my shape but I just trusted the training and that was good to see. Having that back half is going to be really important,” she said. ” The name of the game this season for me has been to stay in my lane. This was a very long season. Two years from now anything can happen. Any race I do at this stage at this level is good practice.”
Curzan said she felt like one of the veterans on the team for the first time, getting to know some younger teammates.
“It has been a blast to race with everyone and get to know Rylee (Erisman), Brinkleigh (Hansen),” Claire Curzan said. “They just bring so much joy and excitement to the sport and inspire us ‘old farts’ – I can say that now – to remember why we started and why we love it so much.”
