World Aquatics Championships 2024: Claire Curzan adjudged Best Female Swimmer after bagging 3 individual golds

Claire Curzan has been named the Best Female Swimmer for her sensational performance at the World Aquatics Championships 2024 held in Doha, Qatar, which included winning three individual gold medals.

The World Aquatics Championships 2024 witnessed the 19-year-old Curzan accomplishing a treble in the backstroke event, winning the 50m, 100m, and 200m titles.

This made her only the third swimmer overall and the second female athlete after Australia’s Kaylee McKeown to sweep the three distances (50m/100m/200m) in a single stroke. McKeown had also clinched the treble in backstroke events at the World Aquatics Championships 2023 in Fukuoka.

USA Swimming posted about Curzan’s accomplishment on their Instagram handle as she won the Best Swimmer Award, stating:

“🥇🥇🥇🥇🥈🥉@claire.curzan has been named the #AQUADoha24 Best Female Swimmer!”

Claire Curzan collected her first gold medal in the 100m backstroke as she clocked 58.29 in the finals to defeat Australia’s Iona Anderson (59.12). This was followed by a gold in the shortest distance (50m), where she once again beat Anderson (27.45) in a nail-biting contest by completing the swim in 27.43.

The 19-year-old achieved the treble by winning the 200m backstroke, where she secured a convincing victory over another Australian opponent Jaclyn Barclay. Curzan finished the race with a time of 2:05.77, while Barclay had to settle for the silver as she clocked a time of 2:07.03.

Apart from her three gold medals in individual backstroke events, she clinched the silver medal in the 100m butterfly event with a time of 56.61. Germany’s Angelina Köhler clinched the top position in that event as she swam a time of 56.28.

It is worth noting that while deciding the Best Swimmer in male or female categories, the athletes’ performance in relay events is not taken into consideration.

For her overall performance at the World Championships, Curzan also bagged the highest earnings among swimmers by winning a whopping $78,750.

Claire Curzan is an Olympic silver medalist

Claire Curzan competes in the Women's 100m Butterfly' heats at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Claire Curzan won her first Olympic medal as a member of the women’s 4x100m medley team that clinched the silver. In the finals, the United States’ relay team clocked a time of 3:51.73, to finish second. Australia won the gold with an Olympic and Oceanian record timing of 3:51.60.

Although Curzan didn’t compete in the finals of the event, she swam the third leg (57.65) during the heats of the event, where the USA finished second, which ensured a spot in the finals.

Besides Curzan, the relay team consisted of Regan Smith, Lydia Jacoby, Torri Huske, Abbey Weitzeil, Erika Brown, Lilly King, and Rhyan White.