Claire Curzan Rattles Own NAG with 49.80 at TAC Titans Blizzard Blitz Day 2

TAC TITANS BLIZZARD BLITZ

• December 10-13, 2020
• Cary, NC
• SCY
• Results on Meet Mobile as “2020 TAC Titans Blizzard Blitz Meet”

It didn’t take long for Claire Curzan to heat things up at the Blizzard Blitz. The 16 year-old blasted a 49.80 in the 100 yard fly to win by over four seconds. That’s just a hair off of Curzan’s NAG record and lifetime best of 49.73, and it’s also tied as the 13th-fastest swim ever. In fact, that’s a three-way tie, and both of the other 49.80s have been done by the same person — USC’s Louise Hansson, who hit that mark both in March and November of 2018. Hansson, of course, is currently tied with Maggie MacNeil as the fastest women ever in this race, with both swimmers’ bests sitting at 49.26.

Charlotte Hook, like Curzan a 16 year-old TAC swimmer, won the 200 free by over two seconds with her time of 1:45.38. That’s a lifetime best for Hook by 0.90s, and moves her into a tie for 30th in the all-time are group rankings. Hook also swam the 400 IM tonight, taking 2nd in 4:15.82 after going 4:14.31 this morning.

Spartaquatics’ Annika McEnroe won the 400 IM in 4:13.40, her 2nd-fastest swim ever and less than half a second away from her lifetime best of 4:12.94. Earlier in the evening, McEnroe had taken 2nd to Curzan in the 100 fly with a 53.89. She set a lifetime best in the event this morning with a 53.04.

14 year-old Katherine Ivanov of TAC swam a lifetime best of 1:03.82 in the 100 breast and 4:22.69 in the 400 IM to win both of those events for 13-14 age group. Both of those times appear to be among the fastest few swims in the country so far this year for that age.

On the men’s side, arguably the biggest swim came from TAC’s Michael Cotter, who won the 200 free by over 3 seconds with a time of 1:35.39. When we first ranked the Class of 2022 back in April, at the end of their sophomore year, Cotter had the best time in the class with a time of 1:36.90. He lowered his best to a 1:36.41 back in August, but Andres Dupont Cabrera showed up on the scene this fall with a 1:35.60 at the Florida high school state championships. He was listed in the results as a junior, and assuming that’s accurate, that time gave him the fastest 200 free time among the 2022 boys until tonight, when Cotter took that spot back over.

In the 400 IM, it was still a three-man race at the halfway point, but Lance Norris put distance between himself and TAC teammate Braeden Haughey and CGBD’s Clayton Whetstine with a 1:07 breast split, then won with a 3:53.35, the NC State’s commit 3rd-fastest swim ever. Haughey, a UVA commit, took 2nd in 3:56.35. He came into today with a best time of 3:56.91, but went 3:54.75 this morning for a new personal best. Whetstine finished 3rd in 3:57.93, knocking over a second off his personal best.

Columbian Olympian Jorge Murillo has been representing TAC the last few years, and tonight he took the 100 breast with a time of 53.65, about a half second off his best yards time. The 29 year-old was semi-finalists in the 100m breaststroke at the 2016 Olympics. 18 year-old Max Kreidl won the 100 fly in 48.83, just 0.11s off his lifetime best.