Sarah Sjostrom had a lights out meet at the 2016 Swedish Open this week, posting multiple event wins and bringing her current number of world #1 rankings to four. Her standout swim, however, had to be her 100 butterfly, where she just missed her world record by .04 and continued to set herself up as the favorite for gold this summer in Rio.
Sjostrom has been on a roll this Olympic year, and now owns the three fastest times ever recorded in the 100 butterfly. In her swim this week, she was out almost 2-tenths faster than her current world record pace at the 50 (26.01 to 26.17), a sign that she is continuing to push the pace of her swim and get as much distance as possible going into that turn. While she seemed to pay for that early speed in this race, coming back 2-tenths slower than WR pace (29.67 to 29.47) to just miss the record, she was essentially swimming on her own. With a full rest, extended meet format, and the adrenaline from the Olympic crowd, expect Sjostrom to be able to come home faster. With her combination of speed and endurance (she was also 1:54.87 in the 200 free and 25.15 in the 50 butterfly), we could certainly see a sub-26 split on the way out with a 29-low coming back this summer.
Congratulations Sarah Sjostrom on earning Swimming World’s Performance of the Week!