2018 FINA WORLD CUP SERIES – KAZAN
- Friday, September 7th – Sunday, September 9th
- Aquatics Palace, Kazan, Russia
- LCM
- SwimSwam Meet Preview
- Day 1 Prelims Recap/Day 1 Finals Recap
- Day 2 Prelims Recap/Day 2 Finals Recap
- Entries List
- Results
25-year-old Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden has notched a World Cup Record on each of the first 2 days of the Kazan stop, reminding the world that she is an ever-present formidable force across the sprint free and fly events no matter what time of racing season.
On night 1 in Kazan, the first stop of the 2018 series, Sjostrom fired off a 50m freestyle mark of 23.83 to not only claim gold, but also surpass the previous World Cup Record of 24.30 set by Aussie Cate Campbell back in 2015.
Sjostrom has already been as fast as 23.74 in this sprint event in 2018, a time that rendered her the winner of the European Championships gold over rival and Olympic champion Pernille Blume from Denmark. Blume fell just .01 shy of Sjostrom in that Glasgow race, finishing in 23.75.
The time of 23.83 produced by Sjostrom ranks as the 8th fastest performance ever, tying her own exact mark from the 2017 Swim Open in Stockholm.
50m freestyle race video courtesy of FINA.
The women’s #50FREE gave us our first look at Swedish swimming icon @sarahsjostrom #FINA #SWC18 #Kazan. Don’t miss the action from #Kazan 📺 https://t.co/bEozhdW5qV @fina1908 pic.twitter.com/32hpUoVgDu
— World Aquatics (@WorldAquatics) September 7, 2018
The 2nd World Cup Record for Sjostrom came this evening when the Olympic champion registered a winning effort of 25.39 for gold. That was quicker than the previous meet mark set by Denmark’s new mother Jeanette Ottesen back in 2015.
Sjostrom has already been as fast as 25.16 this year, which is what she scored in Glasgow to take the 2018 European Championships title. She owns the World Record in this event with the 24.43 she clocked in Boras just over 4 years ago.
Tonight, Sjostrom’s 50m fly victory came shortly after she produced a 200m free winning time of 1:55.98.
Race video courtesy of FINA.
The women’s #50FLY gave Sarah Sjöström the chance to shine once again – and shine she did! @sarahsjostrom #FINA #SWC18 @speedo. Don’t miss the action from #Kazan 📺 https://t.co/bEozhdW5qV @fina1908 pic.twitter.com/Oo8wIqmhc8
— World Aquatics (@WorldAquatics) September 8, 2018
I am surprised that Sjostrom didn’t do her usual histrionics of jumping up on the lane rope and waving to the five fans in attendance in Kazan.