Disclaimer: BlueSeventy Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The BlueSeventy Swim is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
Sarah Sjostrom is a sprinter.
At least that’s what she’s insisted thus far in her career. And she’s a good one, too. The Swedish Olympian had one of the greatest swims of 2014 when she absolutely obliterated the world record in the 50 fly at the Swedish Championships.
On the one hand, Sjostrom seems like a perfect fit to swim the 100 fly, 100 free, and 50 free at the major international meets, with the 50 fly thrown in when it’s offered (it is in the lineup at this summer’s World Championships, but not at next summer’s Olympic Games). Those races, plus all three Swedish relays, makes for a lineup that gives Sjostrom plenty of gold medal opportunities without fatiguing her too much and affecting her later races.
But everytime Sjostrom swims a 200 free, that perfect picture gets a little more complicated – in a good way.
That’s because the 21-year-old is proving more dangerous in a 200 free than nearly anyone could have guessed. A swimmer currently known worldwide for the 50 fly has somehow become a world medal contender in a 200 free without even knowing if she wants to swim the race or not.
The latest example of this was the Bergen Swim Festival last weekend. Sjostrom, as she seemingly always does, crushed the 50 fly, 50 free, 100 fly and 100 free, but in the absence of relays, she also added the 200 free to that lineup.
That decision brought about perhaps the best swim of the whole weekend, as Sjostrom rocketed to #2 in the 2015 World Rankings with a blistering 1:54.77. In that race, she absolutely blew out Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu, herself an amazing swimmer over the 200-meter distance.
That comes on the heels of a Short Course World Championships where Sjostrom actually set the world record while winning gold in the 200 free. And prior to that, she put up the best 200 free split of the entire field at the Long Course European Championships by seven tenths of a second.
Sjostrom is reaching a point where her 200 is so explosive she almost can’t afford to leave it out of her Olympic lineup. Though it would add up to three races to her swim total (prelims, semifinals and finals at the Olympic level), it’s yet another shot at a gold medal, and more than that, a statement swim – if she could win an Olympic medal in what is essentially her fourth-best event, she’d be putting herself on a short list of candidates for the best overall swimmer of the entire 2016 Olympics.
Sjostrom will have some lineup decisions to make before Kazan and again before Rio. But the problem she has now is the best problem you can hope to have as a top-flight swimmer.
Full Bergen results available here
Check out our photo gallery from the Bergen Swim Festival here
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I do not think she should drop the 400 IM, since she has dominated the event since 2013.
Katinka hosszu should swim only the 200 IM, 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke at the world championships and Olympics. She should skip the 200 fly and 400 IM. The 400 IM favors younger swimmers while the 200 fly is 4 laps of torture and she,s not getting any younger.
Seanswimmer, while I agree that Katie ledecky is by far the best freestyler in the world, I wouldn’t call her the best allarounder. That title HAS to go to Katinka Hozzu. With her event load at every meet, and she goes to every meet possible, she always wins nearly all of them. No offense to Katie, but she can’t swim the other strokes at a level like Katinka, Sarah, or even Missy
Swimbreaststroke, I mean’t freestyler. I do agree that Katinka Hosszu is the best all around swimmer right now. She holds the scm world record in the 200 IM, 100 Backstroke, 200 Backtroke, and 100 IM. She also medaled in the 200 fly and 400 IM at the world championships scm and lcm,
I think it would be smarter to swim the 200 IM, 400 IM, 100 Backstroke, 200 Backstroke, and maybe the 200 Butterfly if it fits in at the world championships this summer and next Olympics. Backstroke has definetly taken over butterfly as her best stroke. the 200 Freestyle is definitely another option, but a 1:54 is going to have to happen for her to medal this summer in… Read more »
Sjostrom should skip the relays and swim the 200 free solo since Sweden has no dept in the relays.
Great article – well written, great points to ponder. Thanks
Ledecky #1
Her events in order I think are
50 fly 24.4
200 free 1:54.7
100 fly 56.0
50 free 23.9
100 free 52.6
I agree with almost all of this article except where you call the 200 Free her 4th best event. Assuming Olympic only, I would rank them 100 Fly > 200 Free > 100 Free > 50 Free, especially from the perspective of the odds of winning gold at international competitions.