Italian teen Curtis sets another backstroke world record for European gold

Saint-Denis, France witnessed another thrilling day of competition at the European swimming championships as 19-year-old Italian Sara Curtis set yet another backstroke world record. On Thursday, Curtis broke the women’s 50m backstroke record for the second consecutive day, finishing with a time of 26.56 seconds in the final. This surpassed her own previous record of 26.63 seconds set in the semi-final, marking a 0.23-second improvement over Australia’s Kaylee McKeown's previous mark from three years ago.

Curtis' achievement added to the short-course European record she set in Poland last year, making it a double feat for the young swimmer. Her second medal of the championships came after securing bronze in the women's 100m freestyle on Tuesday. The record-breaking swimmer expressed her joy at achieving this milestone, stating that she struggled to get to sleep the night before the event and had pushed herself to pick up the pace in the final 15 meters of her race.

Reflecting on the significance of her achievements, Curtis remarked that these record-breaking performances represented her dream and a huge goal. She jokingly mentioned the possibility of getting the total solar eclipse tattooed on her body to commemorate the event, noting that she had already treated herself to her 20th birthday present in the form of these world records.