USA Swimming star Claire Curzan Q&A: "I'm wiser now and won't put races on a pedestal"

Claire Curzan is one of the most exciting names in swimming right now, and she entered four individual events for Team USA at the FINA 2022 World Championships.

The North Carolina native first made headlines at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where she won silver as part of the 4x100m medley relay team, aged just 17. Individually, she finished 10th in the 100m butterfly.

Rubbing shoulders with the likes of Katie Ledecky, Sarah Sjostrom and Emma McKeon gave her the confidence that she too could be a medallist.

A year later, she qualified for the 2022 swimming World Championships in Budapest, Hungary as a top two USA Trials finisher in the 100 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 50 butterfly, and 100 butterfly.

Olympics.com sat down with the aquatics prodigy, who revealed why ballet dancing has helped her swimming, how she calms her nerves before races, why the media spotlight is a double-edged sword, and why Lindsey Vonn is one of her sporting heroes.

READ: Swimming at the 2022 FINA World Championships: Preview, schedule, and athletes to watch

Olympics.com: Many people know you for your achievements in swimming at such a young age, and making the USA team for Tokyo 2020. But tell us about who Claire Curzan is outside of the pool...

CC:  I have two parents are both doctors so I've always kind of tried to err on the side of caution since they've instilled in me just keeping your body safe and healthy. I also have two siblings, an older brother and a younger sister. I also have two dogs who I love very much - I would consider myself a dog fanatic. I'm also gonna miss them a lot next year when I'm at college.

In terms of interests in school, I like math and science, I like reading, but writing is not my strong suit! So I'm hoping to work on that when I go to Stanford. That's pretty much me.

O: What are you going to study at Stanford, and how will that fit around training?

CC: The major in economics major kind of jumped out at me and then probably minoring in stats. Swimming has always just been kind of fun to me, I have never really seen it as a job. There's been a lot of success from the Stanford women throughout the years, so I think just being able to learn from them and kind of take advice to see how they managed it and then try to do that myself I think that'll ultimately help. I enjoy trying to pushing my body to its limits and seeing how much I can work and I enjoy just the physical exercise and making my body healthier in general.

Eventually swimming will come to an end, so you're gonna have to have another job at another point, but um I'm just happy that I'm able to hopefully pursue this as long as I can and then find something else that I love and and go into that.

O: So you're a talented swimmer and a good student. What what other hidden talents do you have?

CC: I'd say I'm kind of a water person, my family, we love vacationing in the water. We actually have a boat, so I've discovered my love of water skiing, surfing, and I also snow ski a lot. So whenever I can get out of practice and get a little break, I love just doing those things and I think they're fun. Slalom is something I discovered the last time I went water skiing, so I've just been enjoying doing that. I don't know if you consider that talent, but I think it's fun to try other sports and enjoy them.

O: Is it true you used to train in ballet dancing, and if so is there anything in common between that and swimming?

CC: Yeah, I was a ballet dancer up until I was 12. I think for both, there's an art and a science and you have to have, and a lot of body awareness and core strength. I think ballet definitely helped me in my swimming career as I was more aware of who I was and how my body worked. It takes incredible strength to do ballet, but also you have to be graceful. So I think that translates over to swimming.

O: Federica Pellegrini from Italy said she has to wake up early in the morning for her first practice, then she has massage treatments, and then another swimming session. It sounds like a gruelling lifestyle. How do you find it?

CC: I just really enjoy it. Getting into the habit of getting up early and practising sets my day off right. It wakes me up since I'm normally not a morning person, but it helps just get me going, helps me knock my exercise out for the day. So it always feels good. It's also a place for me to go and make my body healthier. I also see it as an outlet where I can forget about all the daily struggles of either school or relationships or whatever. I can just enjoy practice and being with your friends. I think having those kind of boundaries between the life inside the pool and outside helps, which means not worrying about one more than the other and I think it helps keep balanced.

O: Do you have a favourite mantra or saying that inspires you?

CC: Something that helps calm my nerves before races is just, "Keep it simple." I do this every day in practice, so it's obviously not gonna be that much different during the race. It's just that there's a few more lights and you get to taper. Generally speaking, people can get caught up in times and other sorts of things, but when you kind of strip the strokes back down to the basics, the people who are the most efficient are the ones that are gonna win.

O: Swimmers typically follow a strict diet, but do you have a favourite cheat meal?

CC: That's hard because I don't really follow that much of a diet! I try to eat healthy, but when I like really want something, I'll just eat it. I think my favourite cheat meal is any dessert ever. I really like cakes, chocolate cake is amazing. During meets it's probably French fries and a burger. I'm a sucker for good fried food and an American burger.

O:You competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics aged 17 and being tipped by many to be one of the most dominant swimmers in 2022. How do you feel about these expectations, and to have that kind of spotlight on you?

CC: That's actually something I've been working with my sports psychologist on a lot. Expectations are a double edged sword. They're great because it's an honour to think people think of me that highly and to have such a good future predicted for me. But it's also more pressure going to the race, which could mess with your head. I think I'm just going to focus on my swimming and what I can control. What they say about me, I can't control, so I'll just appreciate it while it's here and while I'm on the good side of it. Then I'll also enjoy the competitions coming up.

I think the hardest thing for me at the Olympics was that I got really far ahead of myself. Tokyo 2020 really opened my eyes since it was the biggest stage in the world and I built it up to be a lot more than I think I needed it to be. The Olympics is a is a great honour but it's also just like any other meet I've been to. So I think now that I'm on the other side of it, just knowing that it's an honour, but it's also just another meet, so I am now wiser now and won't put it on a pedestal and build it up in my head.

O: How could those experiences benefit you as you head towards the Paris 2024 Olympics?

CC: I think just knowing that you've done it before so you can do it again. And also, honestly it just helps meeting all those girls for the first time. It was great to be alongside Lilly King and all the other girls on the relay. Maggie MacNeil, Sarah Sjostrom and Emma McKeown are obviously incredible swimmers. When you see them through the media lens, they seem like these big like indestructible people. So just being able to see them in person and race next to them in the meet definitely helped bring the humanity to them. I'm just excited to be with them again if make it.

O: Athletes are often inspired by other athletes, not necessarily from their own sport. What sporting heroes did you have growing up and why?

CC: That's hard because you see all these stories and your heart just goes out for all of them, but I think Lindsey Vonn is probably one of my idols. She was in the sport for so long and she was so dominant, but also she is just a great person and she brings out the best in people.

I don't know if I could pick just one person from swimming, but I think someone who kind of surprised me the most was Katie Ledecky. I saw her as this dominant female figure and she seemed almost robotic, but I've really gotten to know her over the past couple of years and she's just the nicest person ever. I think that humbleness and down-to-earth quality is just amazing in someone of her calibre.