Can Anyone Track Down Sarah Sjostrom’s World Record in Women’s 100 Free?
When Sarah Sjostrom became the first woman ever under 52 seconds in the 100 freestyle, her world record seemed unlikely to last eight days, let alone eight years. On day one of the 2017 World Championships in Budapest, Sjostrom led off the Swedish women’s 400 freestyle relay in 51.71, crushing the previous global standard set by Cate Campbell a year earlier. But Sjostrom would have a chance to lower the mark in the individual event to come, and Campbell would be returning to major competition the following year.
However, countless global contests have passed with no one coming close to that standard, including Sjostrom. In the last eight years, the event has become one of the most unpredictable in international swimming. That week in Hungary, Sjostrom missed the top spot in the 100 free as Simone Manuel pulled off an upset for the second of three consecutive major meets. Two Australians, neither of them Campbell, won major titles in the event, before Sjostrom finally won Olympic gold in Paris.
Following that win, Sjostrom temporarily stepped away from the sport as she prepared to give birth to her first child. She has since returned to the pool, but it would be no surprise if her days racing the 100 free are behind her. Sjostrom planned to eschew the event last year before adding it back to their program last-minute when she learned there would be two full days after the 100 before the first round of 50 free racing. But with the 50 butterfly now on the Olympic schedule, expect Sjostrom to focus on one-lap races at an Olympics when she will be 34 years old.
The only other swimmer to crack 52 is Australia’s Emma McKeon, who went 51.96 in her dominant win at the Tokyo Olympics. That would be the only major meet in which McKeon topped the podium in any individual event, although she remained a reliable relay performer until her retirement last year.
After McKeon came Mollie O’Callaghan, who jumped from prelims relay swimmer at the Tokyo Games to world champion the next two years. O’Callaghan built a reputation as a phenomenal finisher, frequently coming from behind to edge speedsters for gold medals. Sjostrom learned the hard way at the 2022 Worlds, also in Budapest, as she finished hundredths behind the young Aussie with a silver medal. O’Callaghan defended her gold medal in 2023 while swimming as fast as 52.08, but she was unable to replicate that form in Paris as she fell just short of the Olympic podium. O’Callaghan did win Olympic gold in the 200 free and two relays at those Games.
The all-time list features three swimmers who have been even closer to 52 seconds, two of them active: two-time Olympic medalist Siobhan Haughey at 52.02, Campbell at 52.03 and Manuel at 52.04. Haughey and Manuel are both in the latter stages of their careers, so getting back to those times appears unlikely. Instead, the more likely candidates to challenge 52 are the three women who reached the podium at this year’s World Championships in Singapore.
Marrit Steenbergen (center) beat out Mollie O’Callaghan (left) and Torri Huske (right) for the 100 free world title in 2025 — Photo Courtesy: Emily Cameron
Marrit Steenbergen of the Netherlands was the gold medalist, out-pacing O’Callaghan on the back end to score the top spot by 0.12. Steenbergen had also won the event at the lightly-attended Doha World Championships in February 2024. The Australian won silver while American Torri Huske won bronze, holding off Steenbergen’s Dutch teammate Milou van Wijk. However, the year finished with Huske atop the global standings with a time of 52.42 posted at U.S. Nationals in June. A battle with gastrointestinal illness zapped Huske’s strength at the World Championships, preventing her from chasing the time of 52.29 she swam to win Olympic silver behind Sjostrom one year earlier.
Nine total swimmers broke 53 this year; after Huske, Steenbergen and O’Callaghan were Americans Gretchen Walsh, Rylee Erisman and Manuel plus Haughey, Van Wijk and Russia’s Daria Klepikova. Walsh is a short course superstar still figuring out the long course version of the 100 free while Erisman is a teenager who burst into the spotlight with an unexpected 52.79 gold-medal swim at the World Junior Championships. Kate Douglass, a fifth American, became the first woman ever under 50 seconds in the short course meters 100 free in October.
Meanwhile, Australia has lost a large contingent of 100 freestylers to retirement in recent years between McKeon, Campbell and Campbell’s younger sister Bronte, but Meg Harris is still on the scene after years as a stalwart of the Aussie 400 free relay squad. Harris split as fast as 51.87 in relay duty at Worlds before winning the world title in the 50 free.
Entering 2026, plenty of swimmers have 52-mid capabilities, but anyone who can break into the 51s would instantly stamp themselves as the gold-medal favorite for the 2027 World Championships and the Los Angeles Olympics. A true challenge to a long-untouched world record would shake the landscape in one of swimming’s signature events.