Italy's Sara Curtis set a new world record in the women's 50-meter backstroke Wednesday at the European Aquatics Championships, finishing in 26.63 seconds in the event's semifinals to lower the mark by nearly a quarter of a second.
Australia's Kaylee McKeown owned the previous mark of 26.86, set in Budapest, Hungary, in October 2023. McKeown, the United States' Katharine Berkoff and Curtis have all threatened the record since. Curtis clocked 27.07 seconds in June, tied for the ninth-best time ever for the race.
The 19-year-old Curtis is a six-time European junior champion and won three golds — including in the 50 backstroke — at the European short-course (25-meter pool) championships last year. This was her first major long-course (50-meter pool) gold.
The 50-meter events — all-out sprints over one length of the pool — will have increased attention over the next two years. The short versions of the backstroke, **** erfly and **** troke will all make their Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. The 50-meter freestyle has been in the Olympics since 1988.
The European championships are the biggest event of the year for the continent's swimmers. The Pan-Pacific Championships — featuring the U.S., Canada, Australia and more — begin Wednesday night in Irvine, Calif. The next World Aquatics Championships meet is in July 2027.

#backstroke #mckeown

Before Camryn Siegers gets in the water for her final high school season, she had something to prove on the national level.
The Holland native and Alabama commit made multiple finals at the Speedo Junior National Championships from Aug. 3-7 in Irvine, California.
Siegers made the A finals in the 100 backstroke and finished eighth with a swim of 1:02.81.
The Holland Christian state champion took 10th in the 50 backstroke with a swim of 29.08 in the B final.
More: Holland Sentinel All-Area Girls Swim, Dive Team, led by Siegers, Popma

#holland #national #final

Four dads are hoping to set a world record by doing a swimming relay across the English Channel for charity.
Nik Haynes, Olly White, Ross Szender and Adam Tapp, who are known on social media as Channel Medley Relay 2026, will each swim a different stroke - backstroke, ***** troke, ***** erfly and freestyle.
The quartet, all aged in their 40s and from East Devon, plan to head into the water on 27 August and are aiming to break the record for a relay swim across the Channel while raising money for Hospiscare.
The dads added they had a "secret weapon" in the form of massage therapist Heidi Bell-West, whose great-great-great uncle was Capt Matthew Webb - the first man to swim across the Channel.
More news stories for Devon

#swim

Tatiana Tostevin broke her second Guernsey swimming record at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
The 23-year-old, racing at her third Commonwealth Games, became the first Guernsey woman to break the 27-second mark in the 50m freestyle.
She clocked 26.95 seconds as she came third in her heat at Glasgow 2026 and 27th overall to add to her 50m backstroke record.
Fellow islander Tallulah-Mae Rautenbach finished one place behind her in the same heat and also broke the old island best as she swam 27.03 to end 29th.
Emma Bourgaize was first in her heat in a time of 27.50 and was 38th fastest.

#second #first

Scotland claimed three medals in a magnificent 45 minutes in the pool to kickstart the hosts' Commonwealth Games in fine style in Glasgow.
Poster boy Duncan Scott started the rush, defending his 200m individual medley gold from Birmingham four years ago by slicing a chunk off his own Games record.
Then Para-swimmer Stephen Clegg added silver in 100m freestyle S13 - with brother James fourth - after battling back from an injury-ravaged year.
And Katie Shanahan upgraded her 2022 Games bronze to silver in the 200m backstroke.
The drama all unfolded at the same raucous Tollcross pool where 29-year-old Scott won the first of his now 14 Games medals in 2014.

#glasgow

Team NI swimmers Lottie Cullen and Grace Davison progressed to the women's 200m backstroke final after coming through their heats on Friday morning.
Cullen finished second in the first heat in two minutes 12.23 seconds behind Australia's Hannah Fredericks, who qualified fastest in 2:09.81.
Davison's time of 2:12.24 was enough for a place in the final after she finished third in heat three behind Scotland's Holly McGill (2:09.88) and Australia's Iona Anderson (2:11.08).
The women's 200m backstroke final takes place at Tollcross Swimming Centre at 19:51 BST on Friday.
Paddy Johnston and Conor Ferguson both qualified for the men's 50m backstroke semi-finals. Johnston and Ferguson finished fourth in their respective heats in 25.38 and 25.48.

#johnston #heat

Last Thursday, 36 athletes from across the Big Ten were awarded the annual Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award, which is given to a select few players because they have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior, being in good academic standing, and demonstrating good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
Two Rutgers players were honored by the conference for the award this year, as Gus Zilinskas, the center for Rutgers football, and Katherine Lang of the women’s swimming and diving team earned the nomination.
Zilinskas started 41 games at center for Rutgers and made 38 consecutive starts over the past three seasons. He was a two-time honorable mention All-Big Ten selection and was named All-ECAC and to the Rimington Award watch list. On top of his achievements on the field, Zilinskas also proved himself in the classroom. As a graduate student, Zilinskas studied performance psychology and was a member of the National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society and a four-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
Lang competed in backstroke, IM and relays for Rutgers while serving as a two-time team captain. Lang served as the President of the Rutgers Student-Athlete Advisory Committee as a senior after previously serving as the vice president of the committee. Majoring in Public Health with a minor in business administration, she was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and a Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship Recipient.
Both of them set a standard of high expectations for their programs in and out of the locker room. With both graduating this year, the duty of filling their leadership role must be filled by the next up-and-coming leaders in their programs.

SYDNEY (AP) — Five-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Kaylee McKeown is out of the Commonwealth Games and the Pan Pacific Championships which follow due to glandular fever.
The star backstroker won both the 100- and 200-meter distances at the Tokyo Olympics and repeated the feat at the Paris Games in 2024. She also won both events at the world championships in Singapore last year.
“I am gutted to medically withdraw,” McKeown said in a Swimming Australia statement Friday. “What I thought a few months ago was flu has turned out to be my body fighting glandular fever.
“I was sick going into trials and I have just not got better and I am worried about pushing myself so hard that I end up with chronic fatigue. It was a hard decision to make but the right one.”
The 24-year-old McKeown is planning to swim at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.