Cal Commit Bjorn Seeliger Swims Lifetime Bests in “Stockholm Closed” Meet

A group of swimmers who train out of the Swedish capital of Stockholm got together on Thursday and Friday to race at the “Swedish Closed” meet, so-named because it was the opposite of the “Swedish Open” originally scheduled for next weekend.

The opportunity was possible because of the uniquely-lax Swedish laws in place to deal with the current global coronavirus outbreak. While earlier this week, the Swedish government had limited gatherings to no more than 500 people, on Friday that number was reduced to 50.

• Read more about why Sweden is approaching the pandemic differently from Foreign Policy here.

The meet was held in 4 timed final sessions (no prelims or finals). Athletes were given slot start times and allowed to race any event they chose. The “winner” of the event, informally, was the swimmer closest to his or her best time. Racing was held in a long course (50 meter) pool.

While no cross-country travel was allowed, local Stockholm athletes participated in the event, including World Record holder Sarah Sjostrom. She swam 4 races, including a 24.44 in the 50 free, 53.42 in the 100 free, 25.73 in the 50 fly, and 57.27 in the 100 fly.

Three swimmers in the meet swam new lifetime bests. That included Bjorn Seeliger, who says he was semi-tapered for the meet. The 19-year old posted new lifetime bests of 22.08 in the 50 free, 49.12 in the 100 free, and 24.30 in the 50 fly. Seeliger is committed to attend Cal, the 2019 NCAA Champions, in the United States in the fall. Cal is home to the two fastest collegiate 50 freestylers in the U.S. at the last NCAA Championship meet, Ryan Hoffer and Pawel Sendyk, so Seeliger will join a strong group in Berkeley.

26-year old Gustav Hokfelt, who swam in the U.S. at George Washington University, swam a new best time of 51.40 in the 100 free. In his primary events, he came up short of the Swedish Records in the 50 and 100 backstroke. Adam Paulsson joined the best-times group with times of 2:11.10 in the 200 fly and 2:09.4 in the 200 back, though neither is a specialty race for him.

Full Results Below