Outside the house on Lidingö, you can sense the sun. Sarah Sjöström still has a few days left at home in Sweden before she travels to Doha where the World Swimming Championships are decided. While we are having coffee in the kitchen, one of the family’s cats keeps an eye on us.
When I take out the cheat sheet with the nine world records that Sjöström has set in long track, the first reaction is surprise.
– My God, I have set so many world records in the long track, says Sarah Sjöström.
When the number has droppedand she has also been reminded of the six world records in short track, quickly comes a question:
– 100 butterfly is where it has happened the most times, isn’t it?
The answer to that question is yes, five of the long course records have come at her previous par distance.
When the WC begins on Sunday, Sarah Sjöström is the only swimmer in the world who has four individual world records in the long course, 50 and 100 meter freestyle and 50 and 100 meter butterfly.
– Although, as I said, there have been a few world records during my career, there are only a few times that I have thought in advance that today will happen. The first time was in Borås in the 50 meter butterfly, the other most recently in Fukuoka in the 50 freestyle.
– Both times I felt it so strongly that I told those around me to be prepared.
When Sarah Sjöström set her latest world record, it was just three weeks until she turned 30. She was 15 years old when she set both her first and second world records in the space of two days.
Sarah Sjöström set her first world record in the WC semi-final of the 100m butterfly in Rome in 2009, and it was a happy 15-year-old who celebrated after the record. Photo: Maja Suslin/TT
In the WC semi-final of 100 meter butterfly in Rome 2009, Sjöström swam in a record time of 56.44. In the final the following day, it was even faster: 56.06.
– Three years later I got rid of the record when Dana Vollmer swam under 56 seconds in the Olympics. Somewhere, though, I knew I could take it back even if I didn’t know when.
It was in the WC in Kazan 2015.
Also that time, she first set a world record in the semi-final (55.74) and then lowered it further in the final (55.64).
– It was a really cool feeling to come back like that. But it is clear that the world record in 2016 also means a lot considering that it was during the Olympics.
30-year-old Sarah Sjöström is now also setting records in setting records. Photo: Jonas Lindkvist
Sarah Sjöström remembers the days in Rio. The Olympic final of the 100 meter butterfly was decided on the second day of competition.
– I really felt like crap before. I think almost everyone around me did. The feeling was “if I don’t win Olympic gold now, I never will”, says Sjöström with a wry smile.
– Somehow it felt as if I was carrying the entire Swedish squad on my shoulders. A gold would have meant a good start to the Olympics for Sweden. In addition, a number of years had passed since the last Swedish Olympic gold in swimming (Lars Frölander 2000), and no Swedish female swimmer had won gold.
– That I managed to take the gold, and be faster than I had ever been before, I’m even really proud of.
Sjöström’s time in the Olympic final, 55.48, is still the current world record.
With the pandemic, the swimming championship calendar was messed up. That is why Sarah Sjöström is now for the first time preparing for a long-track WC in February. Photo: Jonas Lindkvist
Two years before the Olympics in Rio had Sarah Sjöström stunned the swimming world when she swam the 50 meter butterfly in 24.43 in the SM in Borås. It was almost a slaughter of the previous record of 25.07.
– In that race, there was perfect timing between the arms and the legs, and a superb flow in the swimming. But the time felt almost unreal.
Even though that time before the race she had a feeling that it was going to be a record, the time surprised her so mildly that she considered asking them to check measure the pool so that it was indeed 50 meters. We can announce that it is.
– It’s crazy that it’s almost ten years ago, says Sarah Sjöström.
– I think I understood even then that it was a record that I might never beat. Or maybe I didn’t realize it at first, but over time I understood how strong that record is, and feel pretty comfortable with it remaining my fastest time.
She takes a sip of water before continuing:
– But if I get off to a damn good start, maybe it can work.
The class of that record is underscored by the fact that it is currently the second-oldest women’s long track world record. The person who has come closest to beating it is, unsurprisingly, Sjöström himself. In the WC 2017, she set a new championship record when she swam 24.60.
Sarah Sjöström’s world record in the 50 meter butterfly is the second oldest record for women in long course. According to her, for Sjöström to be able to lower the record further, she needs to get off to a very good start. Photo: Jonas Lindkvist
The world record on The 100 meter freestyle in the WC 2017 was in a way planned. Sjöström knew she was in great shape, and to give her the best opportunity to swim fast, she swam the first leg of the freestyle heat. There she could get open water, and didn’t have to drag anyone along on her wave.
When Sarah Sjöström crossed the finish line with a time of 51.71, she had lowered the previous world record by 37 hundredths.
– Even though I still have the record in the 100 free, I always thought it was a little more difficult to get good races there. My minimum level has not really been as high as in the other three branches.
– If you look at the 50 free and 50 and 100 butterfly, I have as many times as possible on the top 50 list. On 100 freesim, however, you have to scroll through the list for a while so that I can be included several times.
Even though Sjöström swims the 100 meter freestyle in this year’s WC, it is no longer a distance that she focuses on. And regardless of when the day comes when someone swims faster than her, no one can take away from Sjöström that she was the first woman to swim under 52 seconds.
In the WC 2017 set she also world record in 50 meter freestyle. That record stood until last summer. When Sarah Sjöström swam 23.61 in the WC semi-final in Fukuoka – and lowered her previous record by six hundredths – she made record history in a new way.
14 years and 3 days after the first world record, Sjöström struck with his latest – in the 50 meter freestyle in the WC semi-final in Fukuoka 2023. Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/TT
By then it had been 14 years and 3 days since that first world record in Rome. Such a long span of time between records has not been matched by anyone else.
– Swimming is quite measurable, and even though I’m not one for statistics, it’s in my head. I know approximately where I am in my training, and what progression I have had in training for championships and other important competitions.
– In Fukuoka, I think I swam around 24.0 (23.93) in the trials. When after the finish I felt that there was one more gear, I understood that the world record was within reach.
– Then I decided to go for it in the semi-finals.
For almost seven years Sarah Sjöström has held four world records in the long track, but in the near future she believes she will lose at least one.
– It wouldn’t surprise me if someone beats my record in the 100 meter butterfly this year, says Sjöström, who has now almost completely stopped swimming his previous para distance.
– There are several who are chasing it, and I have seen how some of these young girls have been really frustrated when they have not succeeded. To them I have said “next time”, she continues with a laugh.
– But when one day one of them manages to do it, I will be the first to congratulate her.
Although Sjöström’s own record period in the 100 meter butterfly is over, her time as a record swimmer is not.
Several times during our conversation, the world record in Fukuoka is referred to as the latest – never as the last. In the 50 meter freestyle, it can happen again.
– I feel very confident when I swim 50 meter freestyle, says Sjöström, who before the WC swam 23.87 in a very ordinary competition in Luxembourg.
The last training sessions at home in Eriksdalsbadet will soon be completed. Next week, Sarah Sjöström will try to swim home new WC gold. Photo: Jonas Lindkvist
Talk any future world record with a 30-year-old swimmer – who has belonged to the world’s elite for half his life – is in itself something special.
But there is another dimension to the conversation when you add that Tuesday was exactly three years since she broke her elbow in a slipping accident.
– I am proud of how I was able to get back after that, says Sjöström about the serious injury.
Can it be accepted that there are over 14 years between your first and your last world record?
– It’s cool, but I don’t walk around thinking “how good I am”. It wouldn’t be a good idea when I’m still in the middle of my career, she says firmly.
With the long-course WC being decided for the first time in the same year as the Olympics, Sjöström chose not to swim in December’s short-course EC. It gave her the opportunity for a longer cohesive training period.
In the WC, which lasts for eight days, she will swim 50 and 100 meter freestyle as well as 50 meter butterfly individually.
She has the best chance of a record on the last WC weekend, February 18–19, when both the 50-meter freestyle and 50-meter butterfly are decided.
Facts.Sarah Sjöström’s world record in long distance
1. 26 July 2009, 100 meter butterfly: 56.44 – 15 years (semi-final in the WC in Rome)
2. 27 July 2009, 100 meter butterfly: 56.06 – 15 years (final in the WC in Rome)
3. 5 July 2014, 50 meter butterfly: 24.43 – 20 years (SM in Borås) – current world record
4. August 2, 2015, 100m butterfly: 55.74 – 21 years (semi-final of the WC in Kazan)
5. August 3, 2015, 100m butterfly: 55.64 – 21 years (Final of WC in Kazan)
6. 7 August 2016, 100m butterfly: 55.48 – 22 years (Rio Olympics final) – current world record
7. July 23, 2017, 100m freestyle: 51.71 – 23 years (team race in the WC in Budapest) – current world record
8. 29 July 2017, 50 meter freestyle: 23.67 – 23 years (semi-final in the WC in Budapest)
9. July 29, 2023, 50m freestyle: 23.61 – 29 years (semi-final in Fukuoka WC) – current world record
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2024-02-08 17:55:32
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