Medals pour in for the University of Virginia as Kate Douglass, Claire Curzan, and Jack Aikins impress in the World Championships

The University of Virginia swimmers Claire Curzan, Kate Douglass, and Jack Alkins have been impressive in various swimming disciplines at the ongoing World Aquatics Championships 2024.

Curzan began her campaign at the World Aquatics Championships 2024 by winning the silver medal in the women’s 100m Butterfly as she swam a time of 56.61s.

This was the University of Virginia’s sophomore’s first individual silver medal in the event’s history, having won the bronze in the 100m backstroke in 2022.

She then clinched her first individual gold medal in the women’s 100m backstroke at the World Aquatics Championships 2024. The top-seeded swimmer in the discipline collected the gold, with a UVA program-record time of 58.29s to finish 0.83 seconds ahead of the silver medalist, Iona Anderson of Australia.

Claire Curzan was also a member of the 4x100m mixed medley event that won gold. She had previously won five medals at the World Aquatics Championships 2022 - two gold and three bronze medals.

On the other hand, Virginia alumnus Kate Douglass successfully defended her women’s 200m individual medley title as she swam a personal best of 2:07.05s on Monday, February 12. She did so by finishing ahead of Canada’s Sydney Pickrem (2:08.56) and China’s Yu Yiting (2:09.01).

Being a part of the 4x100m mixed medley alongside Hunter Armstrong, Nic Fink, and Curzan, she went on to clinch the gold medal in the relay event.

Meanwhile, Jack Aikins was a part of the men’s 4 X 100-meter freestyle relay team, along with Matt King, Shaine Casas, Luke Hobson, Carson Foster, and Hunter Armstrong, that clinched the bronze medal, with a time of 3:12.29.

Aikins also placed eighth in the men’s 100m backstroke final in his first-ever final appearance at the Championships. Having represented the University of Virginia in his freshman and sophomore years (2021-2023), he won’t be participating in the NCAA events as he is preparing for the U.S. Olympic trials this season.

---

Claire Curzan tops the earnings list so far among swimmers at the World Aquatics Championships 2024

Claire Curzan during the Medal Ceremony after the Women's 100m Backstroke Final at the Doha 2024 World Aquatics Championships. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Claire Curzan, 19, is at the top of the list of swimmers with the highest earnings at the end of Day 4 of the swimming disciplines at the World Aquatics Championships 2024. Having won two golds, and a silver so far at the tournament, Curzan has collected a whopping $37,500.

Curzan will look to add more to her total earnings as she will be competing in the finals of the women’s 50m backstroke at the World Championships 2024 on Thursday, February 15.