2021 SWIM OPEN STOCKHOLM
- April 8-11, 2021
- Eriksdalsbadet, Stockholm, Sweden
- LCM Format (50m)
- Start Times (Local Time): Heats: 9:30 AM, B/C Finals: 4:30 PM, A Finals: 6 PM
- FINA Olympic Qualifying Standards
- Meet Site
- Live Results
- Live Stream (Available for €4.99/Session)
The final of women’s 100 breast in Stockholm produced some fast times on Sunday, with the top three finishers all touching within a whisker of each other, and each snaring their respective national records either in prelims of finals.
Estonia’s Eneli Jefimova powered home with the fastest back half in the field, and got her hand on the wall first with a 1:06.82. The 14 year-old has been on a tear the last several months, dropping her personal best from 1:10.55 to 1:07.53 and now to 1:06.82. Her time today broke her own national record in the event.
The World Junior Record stands at 1:05.21, done by Ruta Meilutyte in 2014, and while Jefimova is still about a second and a half off of that mark, her trajectory suggests she could threaten it before too long.
Jefimova actually has completely rewritten the Estonian record book in the breaststroke events the last few days, as she also set national records in the 50m (30.93) and the 200m (2:26.88).
Sophie Hansson of Sweden took 2nd in 1:06.84, just behind Jefimova. Hansson was 1:06.17 in the prelims though, which broke the national record of 1:06.30 set by Jennie Johansson back in 2017.
Finland’s Ida Hulkko rounded out the incredibly close top three with a 1:06.88 in tonight’s final. That time shaved 0.02s off of Hulkko’s own national record of 1:06.90, which she set last summer at the Tempere Invite.
While results are still rolling in from a number of different meets that have been happening the last few days, those times appear to put all three swimmers just outside of the top ten in the world this season.
Sophie Hansson was under the 1.06.8 that Sweden has as the Olympic Qualifying time but it is still up to the Swedish Olympic Committee (SOC) to decided if she gets to go or not. The SOC want athletes/swimmers to have a reasonable good chance for a Top 8 finish (based on 2 swimmers/country) to nominate/select an athlete/swimmer and Top 6 for relays. For athletes that are considered future prospects the qualifying procedures are not as strict.
The Top 8/Top 6 are for all sports, not just swimming.
A 1.06.17 national record isn’t good enough for the SOC? Currently top 5 in the world
Looking at what have happened in the past years/Olympics, nothing is guaranteed.
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Next date of selection for all sports is April 17th I think, the only swimmers selected so far are the ones that made A-Final at the 2019 World Championships.
Here is another recent example.
Michelle Coleman missed making an A-final at the 2019 World Championships but a few weeks later she went 53.04 in the 100m Free at a World Cup meet (LCM) which is 1.34 seconds under the FINA A cut and she has still not been nominated by SOC.
If I remember correctly, in 2016 all Swedish swimmers who reached the A-cut were eventually selected to go. One thing they did differently that time though, was to select relay swimmers much earlier. For example Coleman and Louise Hansson were first selected as relay swimmers, and later got their individual spots.
Eneli also qualified for the OLY Games, she got under the a-cut! We’ll get a Jefimova vs Efimova
Want to feel really old? Eneli Jefimova was 20 months old when Phelps won 8 Golds in Beijing. DOB is December 2006!
I felt my skin wrinkle after reading that