Swimming & Diving: Three Wahoos shine at World Aquatics Championships

Posted on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024, 11:30 pm

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Courtesy UVA Media Relations

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All three members of the Virginia swimming contingent at the 2024 World Aquatics Championship earned gold on Wednesday in the Mixed 4x100M Medley Relay in Doha, Qatar.

Claire Curzan and Kate Douglass swam the final two legs in the relay final, with Curzan swimming the Butterfly leg and Douglass anchoring with the Freestyle swim. Douglass touched the wall 2.90 seconds ahead of Australia to give the gold to Team USA.

It was the second gold medal of the meet for both Curzan and Douglass.

Jack Aikins swam the leadoff backstroke leg in the preliminaries to earn his gold medal. Aikins earned a bronze on the first day of the championship after swimming in the prelims for the 4×100 Free Relay team.

In other action, Curzan swam in the 50 Backstroke prelims (27.99) and semifinals (27.65), earning a spot in tomorrow’s final, where she will be seeded third.

Douglass will return to individual competition tomorrow, swimming in the prelims for both the 100M Freestyle and 200M Breaststroke. Aikins will have prelims for the 200M Backstroke.

Preliminaries begin at 1:30 a.m. E.T. each day, with the final sessions starting at 11 a.m. E.T.

The World Aquatics Championships run through Sunday, February 18.

CAVALIER RUNNING MEDAL TALLY: 7
Gold: 200 IM (Douglass), 100 Back (Curzan), Mixed 4×100 Medley (Curzan, Douglass, Aikins)
Silver: 100 Fly (Curzan)
Bronze: 4×100 Free Relay (Aikins)