Sweden Championships: Jennie Johansson, Michelle Coleman Break Swedish Records; Therese Alshammar Posts Top Ten 50 Free Time

NORRKOPING, Sweden, July 1. IN what will most likely serve as a final tuneup before the Olympics get underway in a few weeks, a handful of Sweden's top swimmers competed at the Swedish Long Course Championships held in Norrkoping from June 27-July 1.

Lars Frolander, who will be headed to his sixth Olympic Games this summer, won the men's 50m butterfly, an event in which he holds the national record in, in 24.12. Sebastian Holmberg finished in 24.50, a hair ahead of David Larsson's 24.51.

Ida Marko-Varga won the first women's event on the program with a 4:17.26 in the 400m free. Henriette Stenkvist finished second in 4:19.49 with Elsa Ericsson in third at 4:20.99.

Kristian Kron earned a victory in his specialty, the men's 200m back, with a 2:02.40. Kron just missed his own meet record of 2:01.63 from last summer. Mattias Karlsson touched second in 2:03.79, followed by Simon Frank in 2:05.76.

Therese Alshammar, more commonly known as a sprint freestyle and butterfly specialist, showed some range with a 1:02.20 in the 100m back, good enough for first place over a tightly bunched field. Therese Svendsen finished right behind in 1:02.52 while Michelle Coleman was third in 1:02.58.

In the men's 100m breast, Petros Katsampanis got to the wall first in 1:03.68, not far ahead of Marcus Svensson's 1:03.91. Niklas Tour rounded out the top three finishers with a 1:04.36.

Martina Granstrom cracked the 2:10-mark in the women's 200m fly with a dominating performance of 2:09.31, more than four seconds better than second place Ida Marko-Varga (2:13.88). Ida Sandin finished a distant third in 2:16.70.

In the men's 200m free, Jesper Jonsson held off Robin Andreasson, 1:52.54 to 1:52.89, for the victory. Mats Westergren touched out a slew of other competitors to take third in 1:53.56.

In relay action, Michelle Coleman, Lovisa Ericsson, Elsa Ericsson and Therese Alshammar posted the quickest time in the women's 4x100m free relay with a 3:44.35, only .01 off the meet record set in 2008.

On day two of the competition, Lucy Worall kicked things off with a victory in the women's splash-and-dash 50m free with a time of 26.86. Petra Granlund settled for second in 27.10, with Rebecka Palm in third at 27.12.

Simon Frank took home top honors in the men's 200m IM with a 2:03.96 effort, denying Kristian Kron his second win of the meet. Kron touched in 2:05.79 for second, while Linus Kanth placed third (2:06.92).

The first meet record of the competition fell at the hands of Joline Hostman in the women's 200m breast. Hostman clocked a 2:26.56, taking down one of the oldest meet records on the books in Emma Igelstrom's 2:27.36 from ten years ago. Jennie Johansson (2:29.77) and Elin Martensson (2:30.77) emerged from the field to take second and third.

Olympian Stefan Nystrand earned a convincing win in the men's 50m free with a 22.40, well in front of Petter Stymne's 22.77 and Alexander Nystrom's 23.45. Nystrand holds the Swedish record at 21.45 from 2009.

Michelle Coleman, who earlier in the meet finished third in the women's 100m back, broke the Swedish record in the 50m back sprint with a 28.74, smashing Magdalena Kuras' 29.03 set earlier in the day in prelims. Kuras would not relinquish her record easily, as she finished right behind Coleman in 28.75, also under the previous record. Emma Svensson touched third in 29.35.

In the men's 1500m free, Gustav Aberg Lejdstrom held on for the win in 16:04.60, with Adrian Brynnel in second at 16:07.33. Axel Rebner took third in 16:12.64.

Rebecka Palm improved upon her third-place finish in the 50m free with a win in the 200m. Palm finished in 2:03.08 to out-swim Laura Lajunen (2:04.15) and Josefin Lindkvist (2:04.35).

Simon Frank, Niklas Tour, Alexander Nystrom and Petter Stymne captured the men's 4x100m medley relay in 3:45.64 to close out day two.

The third day of racing opened with another win by Michelle Coleman, this time in the women's 100m free. Coleman took the race out hard and held on for the win with a 55.14, one-tenth of a second in front of Ida Marko-Varga's 55.24. Nathalie Lindborg also swam a sub-56 time with a 55.87 for third.

David Larsson posted the quickest time in the men's 100m free with a 50.81, the only sub-51 performance. Robin Andreasson recorded a 51.09 for second, while Petter Stymne was third in 51.38.

Martina Granstrom, already a winner of the women's 200m fly on day one, captured the longest event on the women's program with an 8:53.19 in the 800m free. Laura Lajunen touched more than ten seconds behind in 9:03.33, while Josefine Hippi placed third with a 9:04.86.

Kristian Kron collected his second win and third top-two finish of the meet with a winning effort of 4:26.05 in the men's 400m IM. Kron earlier won the 200m back and took second in the 200m IM. Simon Frank touched second in 4:28.00, followed by Linus Kanth in 4:31.98.

Jennie Johansson posted the second Swedish record of the championships with a winning time of 30.65 in the women's 50m breast. That dipped under Johansson's own record of 30.89 from last summer, and her meet record of 30.98. Rebecca Ejdervik finished well back in 31.53 while Nadja Salomonsson took third in 32.49.

Meanwhile, the men's 50m breast title went to Johan Johansson in 28.86. Deniz Hekmati (29.21) and Robert Palosaari (29.51) rounded out the podium finishers in the event.

The women's 200m back race came down to the finish, and at the wall it was Sandra Hafstrom touching out Therese Svendsen, 2:14.01 to 2:14.39. Henriette Stenkvist swam a 2:15.89 to secure third place.

The men's 4x200m free relay closed out day three, as Theo Zatterstrom, Simon Sjodin, Christoffer Vikstrom and Simon Frank outraced the field with a 7:37.08.

Day four began with a close win by Pontus Renholm in the men's 50m back. Renholm touched in 26.37, just over a tenth ahead of Mattias Carlsson's 26.54. Stefan Stojmenovic grabbed third in 26.65, just .01 in front of fourth place.

Martina Granstrom picked up her third victory of the competition in the women's 100m fly, becoming the only woman to crack the 1:00-barrier in the process. Granstrom posted a 59.41, with Lucy Worall in second (1:00.16) and Petra Granlund (1:00.57) in third.

The men's 400m free title went to multi-event winner Kristian Kron, who touched in 4:00.84 for first. Gabriel Bertrand squeaked in for second at 4:02.98 while Gustav Aberg Lejdsrtom was third (4:03.87).

Swedish record-holder Stina Gardell captured the women's 400m IM in dominating fashion, posting a 4:45.03 to top second place finisher Sara Thyden by more than seven seconds (4:52.73). Ida Sandin (4:56.88) was the only other finalist under 5-minutes in third.

Petros Katsampanis swept the men's breaststroke events with a 2:17.17 to take first in the 200m. Andreas Furst came in second with a 2:18.67 while Rokas Cepulis touched third in 2:19.20.

Jennie Johansson, meanwhile, added the 100m breast title to her collection with a solid showing of 1:07.99, less than a second off her own national record of 1:07.10. Rebecca Ejdervik swam a 1:09.48 for second while Joline Hostman came in third at 1:09.53.

Jesper Bjork got to the wall first in the men's 200m fly, besting the field with a 2:03.02. Kristian Kron continued his strong meet with another top two showing in 2:04.36. Eric Smedlund picked up third in 2:07.55.

Josefin Lindkvist, Petra Granlund, Gabriella Fagundez and Nadja Salomonsson posted the fastest time in the women's 4x200m free relay, an 8:12.11, to close out the session.

Lars Frolander opened the last night of competition with his second win of the meet, this time in the men's 100m fly. Frolander won the event in 52.84, well in front of David Larsson (54.49) and Jesper Jonsson (54.95).

Therese Alshammar gave the rest of the world reason to take notice with a dominating swim in the women's 50m free. Alshammar popped a 24.50, under her own meet record of 24.55 from 2007 and the seventh fastest performance in the world this year. Ida Marko-Varga finished way behind in 25.62 while Nathalie Lindborg was third (25.63).

The men's 800m free title went to Gustav Aberg Lejdstrom in 8:20.20, more than six seconds ahead of Oskar Nordstrand's 8:26.81. Gusten Eriksson placed third in 8:30.18.

The closest race of the evening came in the women's 200m IM, where two athletes already with multiple wins, Martina Granstrom and Stina Gardell, fought it out for first. Gardell led after the second and third legs, but Granstrom pulled it out by the slimmest of margins, 2:15.03 to 2:15.06. Ida Sandin placed third in 2:17.38.

In the last individual event on the schedule, Gabrielle Fagundez outdistanced the field in the women's 1500m free with a 17:24.62, while Josefine Hippi (17:28.01) and Elsa Ericsson (17:37.23) rounded out the top three.

Christoffer Vikstrom, Petter Stymne, Simon Sjodin and Alexander Nystrom won the men's 4x100m free relay in 3:23.55, while Michelle Coleman, Rebecca Ejdervik, Therese Alshammar and Lovisa Ericsson earned the victory in the women's 4x100m medley relay in 4:07.69 to close the meet.

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