Italy’s Curtis betters own 50m backstroke world record

Italy’s Sara Curtis celebrates after setting a new world record in the final of the women’s 50m backstroke swimming event during the LEN European Aquatics Championships at the Olympic Aquatic Center in Saint-Denis, northern suburbs of Paris, on Aug. 13, 2026. (AFP)

• Curtis, 19, had smashed five-time Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown’s ‌2023 record ‌on Wednesday
• “I’m happy I managed it again. It’s absurd, ⁠another crazy feat,” Curtis ‌told Rai 2

ROME: Italy’s Sara Curtis broke her own 50m women’s backstroke world record on Thursday when she won gold in 26.56 seconds at the European Championships in Paris, a day after she had set the previous record.
Curtis, 19, had smashed five-time Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown’s ‌2023 record ‌on Wednesday when she ‌clocked ⁠26.63 seconds in ⁠the semifinals.
Mary-Ambre Moluh from France finished half a second after Curtis to take silver, while Britain’s Lauren Cox won bronze.
“I’m happy I managed it again. It’s absurd, ⁠another crazy feat,” Curtis ‌told Rai 2 ‌after breaking the world record twice ‌within 24 hours.
It was the third ‌medal for Curtis at the championships, who won bronze in 100m freestyle and silver in the 4x100m freestyle.
The ‌teenager, who studies at the University of Virginia, has been ⁠inching ⁠toward the world record all year, having broken the Italian record and the European record before overtaking Australian McKeown’s time.
“From the moment I set off for Virginia, that’s all I thought about, the record. A dream and an immense goal,” Curtis added.
McKeown still holds the 200m backstroke world record.