Silver Linings: Wake County athletes Claire Curzan and Andrew Capobianco brought home much more than hardware from the Tokyo Olympics

SILVER LININGS

Wake County athletes Claire Curzan and Andrew Capobianco brought home much more than hardware from the Tokyo Olympics

BY KURT DUSTERBERG

In the wake of the Tokyo Olympic games, athletes return home and are greeted by a rush of excitement involving celebrations and homecoming parties.

For many of them, once the dust—or glitter—settles, training resumes. Plans take shape for future competitions, and they get back at it. We talked with two local

Olympians who brought home much more than silver medals from Tokyo—and who may not be done competing just yet.

CLAIRE CURZAN

Claire Curzan didn’t have much time to bask in the afterglow of the Tokyo Olympics. After returning home, the Cary swimmer spent a week at the beach with her family, but by mid-August, she was back at Cardinal Gibbons High School for the start of her senior year. “Things around me are settling down, but I’m still pretty excited about the whole experience,” she says.

Curzan has good reason. She was part of the women’s 4-by-100-meter medley relay, swimming the butterfly leg in the preliminary round to qualify the U.S. for the finals. But because the prelims involve two swimmers per stroke, the 17-yearold was sidelined for the finals by virtue of having the slower time in her stroke. Instead, she watched from the stands as her teammates clinched the silver medal for the relay team. “I would have rather been swimming,” Curzan says with a laugh. “It’s so hard to watch because you feel so out of control. I knew the girls were going to do well for us, but I couldn’t watch for a lot of it because I was so nervous.”

The medley relay was just part of her Olympic experience. Curzan competed individually in the 100-meter butterfly and placed 10th at 57.42 seconds. “Looking back on it now, I’m super proud of myself,” she says. “It was my first Olympics. For any kind of first-time experience, there’s going to be some of that hardship or difficulty. I’m glad I was able to experience it this time. I’m learning a lot about it and, hopefully, I’ll be able to use what I’m learning to make myself better.”

Curzan has been making a name for herself in the pool for years. After taking her first swim lessons at age 3, she began swimming year-round at age 7. She started making waves at age 12 when she had her first national age group record at an Ohio State meet. In 2020, her time of 56.61 at the U.S. Open Swimming Championships in Greensboro wasn’t just a personal best, it was also just .63 seconds off the American record.

“I wish there was something I could pinpoint, but I don’t think there’s a magical sauce for swimming,” she says. “Like any sport, you have to put in a lot of training, so I guess the better quality training for me—running and working on heart muscles—helped my endurance. But I think I’ve had a lot of body awareness since I did dance when I was little. I think that’s lent itself to my swimming.”

The days since the Olympics have given Curzan a chance to enjoy the spotlight, as well as share her success with others. Brixx Wood Fired Pizza in Cary hosted an evening for the public to come meet the hometown Olympian.

“Everyone does want to see the medal,” she says. “I kind of love sharing that because I know if I hadn’t gone to the Olympics, it wouldn’t be very common to see one in everyday life. So I try to show it to as many people as I can, to have them hold it. It’s heavier than you would think.”

Even back at school, there are little moments that remind Claire of her newfound celebrity. “Everyone’s kept it pretty much on the down-low, which has been nice,” she says. “Occasionally I hear through the hallways, ‘Oh my goodness, that’s Claire!’ and it makes me smile. It’s really cute.”

Curzan tries to maintain a normal teenage life, but her training at Triangle Aquatic Center sometimes requires a bit of accommodation. Cardinal Gibbons High School modified her first period schedule last year so she could train in the morning before joining classes in time for second period. “They’ve been really good about making sure that I’m getting the classes that I need, but also having a social life and being able to train when I want to,” she says.

Like most young, elite athletes, Curzan has had to find a balance between training and enjoying her teenage years. “Anyone at my level does have to make some sacrifices, but my friends are super supportive of it, so they understand if I can’t go to their house one night,” she says. “I try my best over the weekends, when I have the most time, to go hang out with everyone.”

Curzan is turning her focus to college now, pursuing Stanford University and the University of Virginia, two schools with outstanding NCAA swimming programs. But as she takes aim on the collegiate record books, she will keep one eye on qualifying for the Paris Olympics in 2024.

“I’ve heard that people who qualify [once] put more pressure on themselves the next time. I don’t want to do that,” Curzan says. “I would love to make another Olympic team. We will just have to see what happens in three years.”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CLAIRE CURZAN CLAIRE CURZAN MEDALED BY HELPING TEAM USA QUALIFY FOR THE WOMEN’S 4-BY-1OO METER RELAY.

Like the dives he executed in the Tokyo Olympic games in July, Andrew Capobianco’s journey to a silver medal in the men’s synchronized 3 meter springboard competition had its share of twists and turns. The Holly Springs diver walked away from a budding gymnastics career at age 13 after winning the USA Diving Junior National Championship in 2013. Soon after, his family moved from New York to Holly Springs so Andrew could train under an elite diving coach, only to learn the coach was leaving for a college job.

But things have a way of working out when you have exceptional talent. Such was the case for Capobianco, who won a silver medal in synchronized 3-meter springboard diving with teammate Mike Hixon in Tokyo.

Now back at Indiana University, where he is a decorated NCAA champion, Capobianco is getting ready for his redshirt senior season.

How are things on campus these days? Are there a few more people who recognize you?

Yeah, definitely. It’s pretty cool. I definitely appreciate all the attention. All the athletes at IU have been very excited for me and very welcoming with me coming back, as well as random people on campus being like, ‘Oh my God, I watched you! Congratulations!’ So I’m really happy to share my experience, and I’m really happy people have been supporting me. But I’m definitely ready to go back to a somewhat normal life and just focus on schoolwork and get back to diving.

Did you spend some time in Holly Springs before heading back to college?

I was home for about four days, and it was a pretty crazy four days between homecoming events and meet-and-greets and just seeing family. But it was an amazing four days. The support I’ve gotten from the Holly Springs community has been unmatched. I’m just so grateful to have that.

You started diving at age 11. That sounds like a bit of a late start to win an Olympic medal by 21.

It is a little bit of a late start. It’s kind of a niche sport. Most times, divers start when they are 6 or 7, and most times [they start] through family—or you come through gymnastics. But I started gymnastics when I was 9, and the sports kind of overlap a decent amount. It was a pretty easy transition for me.

Your family moved to Holly Springs from New York. Was that move primarily for you to be able to train?

Yeah, the move to North Carolina was a lot for me, but they were all good with it because they knew that I had that dream. They’ve been so supportive the whole way. We made that move when I was 13. I was going to high school and I wanted to go to a more advanced diving program. Drew Johansen, who was the head Olympics coach this year and for the past two Olympics, used to be the head coach at Duke Diving Club. When I moved, I moved with the thought that he was going to be my diving coach, but he actually got the job at IU when I moved to North Carolina. So I was never actually coached by him until I came to IU, which is kind of funny.

The move wasn’t all for me. My older brother, Christian, is currently in his third year at North Carolina State University, and that was his dream. And my twin brother, Matt, wanted to go to UNC for pharmacy school, so it really did work out well for the whole family. But the main driver was my diving.

Was that a challenge for your parents?

Both of them were police officers in New York, and they both retired when we moved, so it was a pretty easy move for them, luckily. But they both had to up and leave everything they’ve ever known, because they had lived in New York their whole lives. They’re both fully retired, following us around.

Let’s talk about the Olympics. You and Mike Hixon made six dives in the finals. Your last two dives, the inward 3½ and the forward 4½ , looked near perfect. Were you feeling the pressure of each successive dive?

What we talked about going into the competition was just trusting your training and letting it all out there. We talked about autopilot a lot. That’s how it felt. Once I got into the competition, I let my mind and thoughts go, and let my body do what it was trained to do. While I was in the competition, obviously it’s hard not to think and not to look at the scoreboard, so I did know that we were doing pretty well. At the same time, I was not really thinking about the outcome; I was trying to focus on each dive. As much pressure as there was, I wasn’t feeling too much pressure because of the mindset I went in with.

How do you synchronize dives with a partner? Do you talk about it or study video, or something else?

It’s a lot of repetitions and a lot of video analysis. That’s kind of the big piece that puts me and Mike together in synchro. We do count on the board. I’m the one who counts, so I say, “1, 2, 3, go.” You kind of figure it out as you go, and you kind of match each other’s diving styles. For me, I’m better at the twisting dives, whereas Michael’s strengths are the spinning dives, so I think we were both able to learn from each other. We’ve been training together for [more than] four years, so it comes a little bit naturally after that amount of time.

Did you find yourself having any unique emotions during your Olympic experience?

While I was there, I had these little clips in my mind, thinking back to when I first started diving and when I started gymnastics, all the long car rides I used to have with my dad. It was amazing to see that the lifelong dream had paid off. Especially when I was done competing, I had a feeling of gratitude. I was just walking around [Olympic] village and I really finally took everything in, that I was at the Olympics and had achieved a lifelong dream. I had a lot of emotion. Some of it was relief, because I knew that it was all over and there was no more pressure.

Did you have enough of a “kid” experience and a social life, or were your teen years dedicated to diving?

I don’t think I had much of a kid experience at all. I wouldn’t really change any of it, because I reached my goals. I wouldn’t have really wanted to do anything else. I loved diving and

I had a great group of friends in my diving community, but I didn’t really have too much time at Holly Springs High School to make friends or do anything because I only went to school half of the day. Basically, I would go to practice in the morning, then go to school for two periods, and then I would go back to practice for three hours in the afternoon. I’m very grateful that Holly Springs High School allowed me to do that. Without them [giving me that flexibility], I wouldn’t be the athlete I am today.

What are you studying, and what do you want to do when you graduate?

I’m an exercise science major and I’m doing a coaching minor because I want to stay in diving as a coach when I graduate and retire from the sport. It’s a great community to be a part of, and I don’t want to leave it. I want to give back to the sport that gave me so much, and hopefully take some kids and make their dreams come true like mine did.

Do you think you will try to qualify for another Olympics?

There are a lot of other competitions to focus on in the coming years before [the 2024 Olympics in] Paris. That’s kind of my goal as well, to get diving a bit more out there and try to get diving a bit more publicity in the years before the Olympics. I’m hoping to make the world championship team this coming year, and hopefully get a medal individually. I will definitely continue diving until at least Paris, and hopefully until Los Angeles in 2028.

ANDREW CAPOBIANCO MEDALED IN THE MEN’S SYNCHRONIZED 3 METER SPRINGBOARD COMPETITION.

Capobianco and Curzan were not alone in bringing hardware back to the Triangle from the Tokyo Olympic games. Here are other some other locals who earned medals:

• Clayton’s Kendra Harrison earned the silver medal in the women’s 100-meter hurdles. The 28-year-old Clayton High School graduate set the world record in 2016 with a time of 12:20. • Garner native and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University student Randolph Ross Jr. won gold in the 4-by-400-meter relay. • Cary resident Katie Zaferes won bronze in the women’s triathlon and silver in the mixed relay event. • Nikita Ducarroz, a Swiss BMX rider who trains in Holly Springs, took the bronze medal in the women’s BMX freestyle event. • Daniel Dhers, a Venezuelan rider who also trains in Holly Springs, won the silver in the men’s BMX freestyle.

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