Sarah Sjostrom Throws Down Gaunlet in 100 Fly Prelims; Worrell Second

Photo Courtesy: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

Editorial Coverage provided by

Sweden’s Sarab Sjostrom got her World Championships off to a rocking start when she challenged her own world record in the prelims of the women’s 100 fly. Sjostrom recorded a time of 55.96, faster than any other woman in history has ever gone, to secure the No. 1 seed into semi-finals.

Kelsi Worrell of the United States qualified second in 56.44, improving to second in the world this year behind Sjostrom, and Australia’s Emma McKeon was third in 56.81, moving her to third in the world. Worrell’s time improved on her own lifetime best of 56.46 from the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Japan’s Rikako Ikee took fourth in 57.45, while Canada’s Penny Oleksiak, the World Junior Record-holder and Olympic silver medalist behind Sjostrom, was fifth in 57.51. Also finishing among the top eight were China’s Zhang Yufei (57.54), South Korea’s An Sehyeon (57.83) and Russia’s Svetlana Chimrova (57.85).

Italy’s Ilaria Bianchi took ninth in 57.98, and she will be joined in the semi-finals by Hungary’s Liliana Szilagyi (58.00), the USA’s Sarah Gibson (58.00), Germany’s Aleina Schmidtke (58.24), Belgium’s Kimberly Buys (58.45), China’s Lu Ying (58.51), Great Britain’s Margaret Thomas (58.65) and Australia’s Brianne Throssell (58.66).

women-100-fly-prelims

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use