The Week That Was: Sarah Sjostrom Returns to Racing in France; Pebley Withdraws From Olympic Trials

Photo Courtesy: Becca Wyant

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Reigning Olympic gold medalist and world record holder Sarah Sjostrom made a return to racing last week at the Mare Nostrum in Canet as she swam faster than the FINA A standard putting her tied for 12th in the world among those qualified for Tokyo.

2017 Worlds bronze medalist Jacob Pebley also announced he would not be swimming at Olympic Trials, relinquishing a repeat Olympic appearance in the 200 backstroke.

Read the five biggest stories of the week in The Week That Was sponsored by Suitmate.

The Week That Was #1: Sarah Sjostrom Makes Return to Racing at Mare Nostrum

Photo Courtesy: Becca Wyant

By Liz Byrnes

Sarah Sjostrom posted 24.68 in the 50 free heats as she made her competitive return to the water following elbow surgery at the second leg of the Mare Nostrum series in Canet, France.

The triple Olympic medallist sustained the injury to her right elbow when she slipped on ice in February and subsequently underwent surgery.

Sjostrom – who set the world record of 23.67 at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest – clocked the second-fastest time in prelims behind Olympic champion Pernille Blume who went 24.53.

#2: Jacob Pebley Announces Withdrawal From Olympic Trials

Photo Courtesy: Becca Wyant

By Andy Ross

2016 Olympian and 2017 Worlds bronze medalist Jacob Pebley announced he will not be at the Olympic Trials next week on social media on Thursday. Pebley had actually made his decision in December to step away from the sport but came forward on Thursday stating he was not going to be competing at Olympic Trials, citing the external pressures and anxieties to perform as the reason for him stepping away. He has not definitively stated he is retiring from swimming.

Pebley wrote a seven-slide Instagram post, detailing the pressures he put on himself to make the podium at the Olympics, something he was unable to do in Rio, and how he was becoming someone he was no longer proud of.

Jacob Pebley swam for the Corvallis Aquatic Team in Oregon where he was a junior national champion and a member of the national junior team. Pebley swam four years at Cal Berkeley where he won a national team title in 2014 and was an NCAA runner-up in the 200 back as a senior in 2016. After college, he made the 2016 Olympic team where he finished fifth in Rio in the 200 back.

After Rio, he made it a mission to avenge that disappointment in Rio and he ended up making the podium the next summer at the 2017 Worlds in the 200 back, winning a bronze behind Cal teammate Ryan Murphy. But when asked about his experience at the Games, Pebley couldn’t shake off not making the podium.

“As the days, weeks, months, years following the Games passed, my inner dialogue took its toll on me in the harshest of ways. It went from a fire of redemption into a desperation to achieve this goal. It went from something I dreamed about, to something I needed in order to be happy,” Jacob Pebley wrote.

The Week That Was #3: Husain Al Musallam Elected FINA President

Husain Al-Musallam of Kuwait during the Asian Swimming Federation General Congress; Photo Courtesy: Asian Swimming Federation

By Matthew de George

Husain Al Musallam has been elected as the new president of FINA, running for the position unopposed at the quadrennial elections in Doha, Qatar. As one of his first acts, he has nominated American Brent Nowicki to fill the influential role of FINA Executive Director.

Al Musallam was the only candidate to replace Julio Maglione, who’d ruled FINA as president since 2009. Al Musallam proposed, and the FINA Bureau approved, the designation of Maglione as the FINA Honorary Life President. His predecessor, Mustapha Larfaoui, also holds that position. IOC President Thomas Bach sent a video message honoring Maglione.

The veteran Kuwaiti sports administrator Al Musallam is the first Asian nominee for the position and the first to hold the job. A former swimmer for Kuwait in the 1970s, he joined the FINA Bureau in 1996. He most recently served as the organization’s First Vice President. He’s also the Secretary General of the Kuwait Olympic Committee.

“I am proud that FINA is the first International Federation to introduce a By-law that protects Athletes’ rights,” Al Musallam said in a speech. “I am proud that 16 members of the new FINA Bureau are athletes who have competed in the Olympic Games, World or Continental Championships. I am proud that for the first time the FINA Executive has a female Vice-President, a great diving champion. Starting at the next year’s World Championships in Fukuoka, 20 active athletes will be elected to the Athletes Committee by the athletes themselves. FINA will be the first International Federation to organize democratic elections for active athletes”, added the new FINA President.”

#4: Jacco Verhaeren Appointed French Performance Director Ahead of Home Olympics

Photo Courtesy: Swimming Australia

By Liz Byrnes

Jacco Verhaeren, who spent seven years as head coach of Swimming Australia, has been appointed French performance director ahead of a home Olympic Games in Paris 2024.

The 52-year-old guided Pieter van den Hoogenband, Inge de Bruijn and Ranomi Kromowidjojo to a total of 10 Olympic gold medals in the Netherlands before heading to Australia in 2013.

He left there in September 2020 following a tenure which saw Australia finish second in the medal table at Rio 2016 and the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju.

Since his return to Europe, Verhaeren has also worked with the German Swimming Federation (DSV).

On Wednesday, the French Swimming Federation (Federation Francaise Natation) announced he would be taking on the role at the helm of pool and open water swimming following Tokyo.

The appointment is part of the “Ambition Bleue” project – a collaboration between the FFN and the National Sports Agency – which is seeking to improve standards across all sports in France.

The Week That Was #5: Abbie Wood Slams 2:09.2 200 IM in Glasgow

Photo Courtesy: Mine Kasapoglu / ISL

By Liz Byrnes

Abbie Wood produced the fourth-fastest time in the world in 2021 to win the 200IM in 2:09.24 among a host of swims that were all the more impressive given they are untapered in the first morning finals at the British Swimming Glasgow Meet.

Wood and Alicia Wilson have already qualified for Tokyo and the pair were alongside each other in lanes four and five.

Wood – who is coached by Dave Hemmings at Loughborough NTC – led throughout and was ahead by more than two body-lengths following the breaststroke.

She went away down the final 50 to touch in a time that would have won gold at the European Championships, 0.75 quicker than the 2:09.99 in which Anastasia Gorbenko became the first Israeli woman to win a continental title.

It was also well within the 2:10.03 in which Wood took silver in Budapest and just 0.01 outside her winning time and PB from April trials.

Splits: 27.57/1:01.12/1:37.93/2:09.24

Only Madisyn Cox (2:08.51) and Kaylee McKeown (2:08.73), as well as Wood herself, have gone quicker this year and she now owns three of the five swiftest times this year.

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