Italian Sara Curtis broke the world record in the 50m backstroke for a second consecutive day at the European Championships.
Curtis, a 19-year-old University of Virginia rising sophomore, clocked 26.56 seconds in Thursday's final in Paris, one day after going 26.63 in the semifinals.
The previous world record was 26.68, set by Australian Kaylee McKeown in 2023.
The 50m backstroke makes its Olympic debut in 2028, along with the 50m breaststroke and 50m butterfly. The 50m freestyle has been on the Olympic program since 1988.
Curtis made her Olympic debut in 2024, reaching the semifinals of the 50m free and placing eighth with the Italian women’s 4x100m free relay.
Curtis’ previous personal best in the 50m back was 27.07 seconds, ranking her fifth on the all-time performer list going into Europeans.
Also Thursday, Kristof Milak of Hungary swam the second-fastest 100m butterfly in history — 49.48, missing American Caeleb Dressel's world record by three hundredths.
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