How Claire Curzan went from being hospitalized last year to becoming the star of the 2024 World Aquatics Championships

Claire Curzan is shining at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, less than a year after she was forced to miss the Fukuoka Championship due to health issues. The American youngster has won two golds and a silver in Qatar so far, already making this a memorable outing for her.

For Curzan, this is redemption after failing to make the cut for Team USA back in June 2023. At that point, the 19-year-old was dealing with chills and fever symptoms just a day after finishing her final exams at Stanford University.

Things only got worse, and the Olympian was forced out of the pool for nearly a week, having to be hospitalized in the emergency room, where she was put on antibiotics and received IV fluids.

The Team USA Swimming Trials were scheduled to start on June 27, and Curzan almost pulled out of the event. However, against all odds, the swimmer did turn up to the pool but failed to make the squad that would head to Fukuoka, Japan.

Now, half a year from that heartbreak, Claire Curzan is onto bigger and better things. Competing in Doha, Qatar, for her second World Championships, the American has added three medals to her already impressive collection.

She won her first individual World Championships gold with a victory in the 100m backstroke, as well as a gold in the mixed 4x100m medley relay, and a silver in the 100m butterfly.

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Claire Curzan on being a “veteran”

While most people wouldn't be called veterans till they're in the twilight stages of their career, Claire Curzan is starting to feel like an experienced swimmer at just 19, and understandably so.

The American was only 16 when she made the squad for the Tokyo Olympics and returned home with a silver alongside the 4x100 medley relay team. After her outing in the Japanese capital, Curzan further marked herself as a force to watch out for, when she claimed five medals from the 2022 Worlds.

Now, Claire Curzan is targeting her second consecutive Olympics and is feeling like a "veteran".

“There's a lot of younger kids that are on the U.S. team. So being in the position of a veteran I think has helped me see that I have grown so much. I think I've gotten so much more composed in the ready room and just ready for races. So I'm excited to see how this newfound, almost adultness, is going to translate into the rest of my career,” she told Olympics.com after her victories in Doha.