World Champs Profile: Italian Sara Curtis Targeting Senior-Level Breakthrough in Sprints
Leading into the start of the World Championships in less than a week, Swimming World will publish a handful of short profiles on top contenders for the podium in Singapore. Our next entry in this series features Italian Sara Curtis, who will soon join the powerhouse program at the University of Virginia.
Sara Curtis
Italy
Events: 50 Freestyle/100 Freestyle
The Road to Singapore
Curtis is one of the sharpest-developing sprint freestylers in the world and could battle for the podium in both the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle. At the Italian Championships in April, Curtis posted a personal-best of 24.43 in the 50 freestyle and went a career-best of 53.01 in the 100 freestyle. Both swims were good for Italian records.
An 18-year-old, Curtis earned valuable international experience at last summer’s Olympic Games. In Paris, Curtis advanced to the semifinals of the 50 freestyle and raced on Italy’s eighth-place 400 freestyle relay.
Top Career Achievement
At the 2024 European Junior Championships, Curtis surged to three individual titles – gold medals in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 50 backstroke. She was also on three medal-winning relays for Italy, which topped the medals standings.
Previous World Champs Hardware
At the senior level, Curtis helped Italy win the gold medal in the mixed 200 freestyle relay at the 2024 World Short Course Championships. At the Junior World Championships in 2022, Curtis collected four medals, highlighted by a silver medal in the 50 freestyle and a bronze medal in the 50 backstroke.
Stat Fact
When Curtis went 53.01 in the 100 freestyle at the Italian Championships, she took down the 2016 national record of the legendary Federica Pellegrini, who owned the standard at 53.18. Additionally, Curtis owns the 10-fastest times in Italian history in the 50 freestyle.
World Champs Profiles
