Overview
- Curtis first lowered the mark to 26.63 seconds in the semi-finals and then improved it to 26.56 seconds to win gold in the final at the European Aquatics Championships in Paris.
- France's Mary-Ambre Moluh took silver in 27.06 and Britain's Lauren Cox earned bronze behind Curtis in the 50m backstroke final.
- The 50m backstroke is a single-length sprint where Curtis's times erased Kaylee McKeown's 2023 world record of 26.86 seconds and tightened the field for sprint events.
- McKeown, a five-time Olympic champion, has been sidelined by glandular fever and missed recent major meets, leaving unanswered questions about when she will return to challenge Curtis.
- Curtis, 19, born in Savigliano and training with the University of Virginia, also collected other medals in Paris and now holds the new mark pending formal ratification by World Aquatics; some outlets have noted a possible milestone about representation but that claim is not fully corroborated across sources.