Many thanks to Shvoong for sharing their coverage of 2015 European Short Course Championships with SwimSwam.
Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden surprised everyone, including herself, by winning the 100m freestyle on Friday at 2015 European Short Course Championships in Netanya, Israel. She said, “The 100 freestyle was a big surprise. I was looking at the scoreboard many times before I saw that it was #1 next to my name, so I was very happy I could improve so much from yesterday.” Sjostrom came within .02 of the Championship Record with her 51.37 win.
Sjostrom still has the 50m freestyle and 100m butterfly ahead of her. The world record-holder in the latter event, she is seeded first with her WR time of 54.61 and will swim in preliminary heats on Saturday morning, December 5. Sunday she will contest the 50m free, where she is seeded second behind Ranomi Kromowidjojo of Netherlands, with 23.55.
From Loretta Race’s live recap of Day 3’s Finals:
Another swimmer who keeps raising the bar is Swedish siren Sarah Sjostrom. After a stellar championship season, where the 22-year old earned individual gold medals in the 50m and 100m butterfly, while earning silver in the 100m free and bronze in the 50m freestyle, Sjostrom put on a show here.
After trailing the Netherlands’ Ranomi Kromowidjojo’s only sub-52-second time from the semi’s, Sjostrom strategized her finals race perfectly, splitting 24.76/26.61 to Kromowidjojo’s 24.91/26.68 to take the gold in a time of 51.37. That time marks Sjostrom’s 3rd-fastest of her career, with her personal best being a 51.24 from just this past November.