Virginia Pro Am, Session 3: Jordan Crooks Doubles, Claire Curzan Wins Tight Backstroke Contest
The short course meters tune-up meet at the University of Virginia wrapped up Friday evening with more superior sprint performances from Gretchen Walsh and Jordan Crooks. Both swimmers swept their respective 50 freestyle and 50 butterfly races, with Walsh breaking a world record in the 50 free while Crooks surpassed Caeleb Dressel on two separate occasions.
Walsh swam a time of 22.75 in the 50 free, breaking her previous world record by eight hundredths. She well finished ahead of veterans Abbey Weitzeil (23.72) and Simone Manuel (24.40) in that race. Later on, Walsh came through in the 50 fly in 24.02, which tied for the sixth-fastest mark in history but ranks well ahead of the No. 2 all-time performer in the event, Therese Alshammar at 24.38.
Crooks, meanwhile, clocked 20.48 for a dominant win in the 50 free, just over a half-second behind his own world record of 19.90. Dressel touched second in 20.90, just ahead of Lamar Taylor (20.95). The 50 fly, meanwhile, saw Crooks finish in 22.07 to edge out Tyler Ray (22.29), with Dressel picking up third in 22.67.
Perhaps the most loaded event was the women’s 100 backstroke, which featured world-record holder Regan Smith competing against four veterans with significant national and international experience, including two who have joined Smith on the podium at major competitions. Those women, Katharine Berkoff and Claire Curzan, both jumped on the pace early, leaving Smith almost a half-second behind at the halfway point.
Smith would rally, picking off Berkoff in the final strokes, but it was not enough to catch Curzan, who won the race in 54.94, two hundredths ahead of Smith’s 54.96, with Berkoff just behind in 55.07. Isabelle Stadden checked in with a fourth-place time of 56.16 while Rhyan White placed fifth. Notably, Curzan would return later in the meet to place second behind Walsh in the 50 fly, touching in 24.85.
Big names took to the blocks for the 200 free. In the women’s event, Katie Ledecky followed up her strong morning effort in the 1500 free to finish in 1:53.28, a little more than a half-second clear of Manuel (1:53.83). The men’s race brought world-record holder Luke Hobson into battle against a charging Mitch Schott, but Hobson held on to win by six hundredths, 1:42.76 to 1:42.82, with Kieran Smith third (1:44.46).
Kate Douglass concluded a busy day with a swift time of 2:02.76 in the 200 IM, far ahead of fellow Virginia alum Alex Walsh (2:05.19). Douglass had already posted swift times in the 200 breaststroke and 50 free (time trial) earlier in the day. As for the women’s 50 breast, Skyler Smith pulled off a first-place finish in 29.72, defeating Olympians Molly Hannis (30.29) and Emma Weber (30.59) in the process.
Max Matteazzi held off distance freestyle Olympic champion Bobby Finke in a two-swimmer race in the men’s 200 IM, 1:56.38 to 1:56.93. Briian Benzing led the way in the 50 breast at 26.63, with Pietro Ubertalli getting home first in the 100 back (52.23).
