Sarah Sjostrom, who currently holds down the number one spot in the world rankings in the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly, broke the Swedish Championship record in the women’s 200 freestyle on the first day of competition in Stockholm.
Sjostrom won the event in a time of 1:56.56 beating her own 2009 record of 1:57.34. It was her fourth fastest time of the season so far in a meet which is ultimately a preparation the European Championships which begin on August 13th in Berlin. Michelle Coleman finished second in a time of 1:58.33, her fourth fastest time of the year. She has a season’s best of 1;57.40, which currently ranks 16th in the world.
Louise Hansson finished third in a time of 2:00.10.
Simon Sjodin also broke a meet record in the men’s 200 fly posting a time of 1:58.32, surpassing Pierre Roger’s 2005 record of 1;59.00.
Jesper Bjork finished second in a time of 2:00.02, four seconds ahead of Gusten Eriksson who collected the bronze in a time of 2:04.22.
Erik Persson broke the final meet record of the evening posting a 2:13.43 beating Martin Gustavsson‘s 2001 record of 2:14.49.
In the women’s 50 backstroke Ida Lindborg won the event in a time of 28.95 followed by Magdalena Kuras who collected silver recording a time of 29.10. Both women held off national record holder Michelle Coleman who took home the bronze in a time of 29.25.
Jennie Johansson made up two and a half seconds in the final 50 meters of the women’s 200 breaststroke to collect the gold in a winning time of 2:27.96. Joline Hostman, who had a comfortable lead heading into the final length of the race, eventually finished second in a time of 2:28.81.
Christoffer Carlsen took the men’s 100 freestyle in a time of 50.54 while Adam Paulsson won the men’s 1500 freestyle in a time of 15:58.12.
Full results can be found here
One can see the video of women’s 200m free here:
http://www.svt.se/sport/sm-veckan/sjostrom-overlagsen-sm-vinnare
There are two video clips side by side (the other is Sjöström’s interview) so click the arrow on the right side of video screen to get it available.
Sjöström swims in 100m fly final today. A live broadcast of today’s finals can be seen here (starting at 18:00 (UTC + 2 hours):
http://www.svtplay.se/video/2135678/sm-veckan-simning
She’s soooo good right now. Holy crap. Can’t wait to see what she’s got in the tank later this summer.
Sjostrom by the way said she won’t swim 200 free at the Euros, other than the relay. Previously she’s scratched 50 fly aswell. So looks like she’ll swim three individual events.
Simon Sjodin also broke a meet record in the men’s 200 butterfly not IM
Sjodin’s time puts him 44th in the world rankings.