Sara Curtis Sets World Record at European Short Course Championships

LUBIN, Poland– Virginia freshman Sara Curtis has won three medals and helped set a world record through the first three days of competition at the 2025 European Aquatics Short Course Swimming Championships being held Dec. 2-7 in Lublin, Poland.

Curtis swam the anchor leg of Italy’s Mixed 4x50M Free Relay on Thursday, touching the wall in the world record time of 1:27.26 with her split of 22.71. It was Curtis’ third relay medal of the meet, having won gold on Wednesday in the Mixed 4x40M Medley Relay and silver in the 4x50M Free Relay on Tuesday.

“I am so happy and proud about this,” Curtis said. “I mean, it was my biggest dream of my life to achieve a world record. I’m so proud and happy to share it with these people that I love so much.”

She also anchored Wednesday’s Mixed 4x50M Medley Relay, splitting a 22.92 on her leg to touch the wall just ahead of the Dutch team to win gold. That relay posted a time of 1:36.09, the third-fastest ever and a European Short Course Championships record.

On Tuesday, Curtis swam the second leg of Italy’s 4x50M Free Relay in the final, with the Italians taking silver with a time of 1:34.30. She clocked a 22.90 on her split.

In addition to her three relay medals, Curtis has also had success in her individual races. On Friday, she set an Italian record in the semifinals of the 100 Free, clocking a 51.29 to earn the top seed in Saturday night’s final.

Curtis opened the meet by swimming in the prelims of the 50 Fly, posting the 6th fastest time in the morning (25.39) to advance to the semifinals. She placed 13th in the semis (25.58) and did not advance to the finals.

Three Virginia signees have also had success at the championship. Incoming Cavalier Nina Jazy swam on the German 4x50M Free Relay. The team finished fourth (1:35.76) in the final after posting a German national record time of 1:35.69 in the morning prelims.

Jana Pavalić helped the Croatian Mixed 4x50M Free Relay qualify for the finals, placing seventh in the finals (1:30.70).

Smilte Plytnykaite (Lithuania) swam in the 100 Breast, advancing to the semis with a 14th place showing (1:05.85). She finished 13th in the semis (1:05.37).

Cavalier freshman Davin Lindholm is representing Finland at the championship.

The meet runs through Sunday (December 7).

Prelims begin at 4 a.m. ET each day, with the semifinals and finals occurring in the evening session at 1 pm ET

HOW TO FOLLOW

• The meet streams live in international markets on the Eurovision Sport app
• Results will be posted to the European Aquatics website

ORDER OF EVENTS – Friday, Dec. 5

• Friday AM: Heats 200M IM, Heats M 800M Free, Heats 100M Free
• Friday PM: FINAL 100M Back, FINAL 200M Breast, FINAL W 800M Free, FINAL 100M Fly, SEMI 200M IM, SEMI 100M Free

INDIVIUDAL EVENTS CAVALIERS SCHEDULED TO SWIM

• Sara Curtis: 50M Free, 100M Free, 50M Back, 100M Back, 50M Butterfly
• Davin Lindholm: 50M Breast, 100M Breast
• Nina Jazy: 50M Free, 100M Free
• Smilte Plytnykaite: 50M Breast, 100M Breast, 200M Breast, 100M IM, 200M IM
• Jana Pavalić: 50M Free, 100M Free, 50M Fly