Can Sarah Sjostrom Provide Response to New World-Record Marks in 50 Freestyle?
For nearly nine years, Sarah Sjostrom reigned atop the 50-meter freestyle. The Swedish star initially set the world record at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest, clocking a time of 23.67. Six years later, at the World Champs in Fukuoka, she took the standard down to 23.61. Meanwhile, Sjostrom has more sub-24 performances than any woman in history, with an incredible tally of 40.
But over the past seven weeks, Sjostrom has ceded control of the 50 freestyle to the American tandem of Gretchen Walsh and Kate Douglass, each of the Virginia standouts popping a world record in the one-lap sprint. Douglass was the first to loosen Sjostrom’s stranglehold, as she blistered a 23.59 mark at the Indianapolis stop of the TYR Pro Series. Nine days later, Walsh lowered the record to 23.55 at the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome, and she recently went 23.60 at the United States Nationals for the No. 3 time in history.
Can Sjostrom reclaim her throne? The 32-year-old will get her first chance at this week’s European Championships in Paris. Sjostrom is entered in only the 50 freestyle and 50 butterfly, the events she will target at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Of those two disciplines, the 50 freestyle is the most intriguing, due to the recent American surge that has altered the event’s hierarchy.
Following the 2024 Olympics in Paris, where Sjostrom won gold in the 50 freestyle and claimed a surprise title in the 100 freestyle, the Swede took a well-deserved break. Last August, she gave birth to a son, Adrian, and it wasn’t until earlier this year that she resumed high-level training. Her return to competitive racing was in April, where Sjostrom clocked 24.36 at the Swim Open Stockholm.
In late June, Sjostrom raced at the Sette Colli Trophy, going 23.86 for a runnerup showing to Walsh. The fact that Sjostrom cracked the 24-second barrier just six months into her comeback is a reflection of her pure sprint talent. Now, she’ll chase her third European crown in the 50 freestyle, along with her sixth in the 50 butterfly. In the 50 free, Sjostrom can expect her prime competition to come from Italy’s Sara Curtis, Dutchwoman Marrit Steenbergen and Poland’s Kasia Wasick.
Beyond pursuing another medal from the European Championships, action in the French capital will also provide Sjostrom an opportunity to remind the world of her legendary status in the event. If she can nudge the times that Walsh and Douglass delivered earlier this summer, Sjostrom will head into back half of the journey to LA28 as a continued threat for gold.