FLASH! Sweden Ties World Record to Win Short Course Worlds Gold in Women’s 200 Medley Relay

SWE - Sweden, HANSSON Louise SWE, HANSSON Sophie SWE, SJOSTROM Sarah SWE, COLEMAN Michelle SWE, celebrating =WR Gold Medal 4x50m Medley Relay Women Final Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates 17/12/2021 Etihad Arena FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Photo Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Sweden celebrates winning gold in the women's 200 medley relay and tying the world record -- Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

FLASH! Sweden Ties World Record to Win Short Course Worlds Gold in Women’s 200 Medley Relay

Sweden qualified only fifth for the final of the women’s 200 medley relay at the Short Course World Championships, but the Swedes revamped their squad before the final, rolling out a group of Louise Hansson, Sophie Hansson, Sarah Sjostrom and Michelle Coleman. That combination proved to be golden.

Louise Hansson gave her team the lead with a 25.91 split, Sophie Hansson built the lead with a 29.07, and then Sjostrom exploded with a 23.96 that was more than a half-second ahead of the field. That gave Coleman plenty of room to come home in 23.44. Coleman touched in a final time of 1:42.38, equaling the world record set by the United States (Olivia Smoliga, Katie Meili, Kelsi Dahlia and Mallory Comerford) at the previous Short Course Worlds in 2018.

The medal was Sjostrom’s second of the meet after Sweden claimed bronze in the 400 free relay Thursday, and she could certainly add to that total with three individual events and many more relays to come. Despite fracturing her hand last February, she came back to earn silver in the 50 free at the Olympics, and she has had a remarkable short course season between the ISL and now the World Championships.

The United States claimed silver here with Rhyan White, Lydia Jacoby, Claire Curzan and Abbey Weitzeil in 1:43.61. Curzan blasted a 24.56 split, the third-best in the field, to bring the Americans up from fifth place after a sluggish start, and Weitzeil came home in 23.10.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands grabbed bronze in 1:44.03 with Kira Toussaint, Kim Busch, Maaike de Waard and Ranomi Kromowidjojo. The Dutch were in seventh place after 150 meters, but Kromowidjojo had the fastest anchor split with a 22.85 to help the Dutch sneak by Canada (1:44.16) by 0.13.

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DeepBlue Media is Swimming World’s official supplier of photos from the Short Course World Championships.

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