{"id":426972,"date":"2020-04-16T00:30:08","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T07:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=426972"},"modified":"2020-04-16T10:42:24","modified_gmt":"2020-04-16T17:42:24","slug":"sarah-sjostrom-throwback-thursday-when-a-15-year-old-girl-broke-her-first-world-record-in-2009-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/sarah-sjostrom-throwback-thursday-when-a-15-year-old-girl-broke-her-first-world-record-in-2009-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Sarah Sjostrom Throwback Thursday: When A 15-Year-Old Girl Broke Her First World Record in 2009 (Video)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sarah Sjostrom Lowers World Record in 100 Fly at Age 15 in 2009<\/em><\/p>\n

With no swimming going on for the foreseeable future, Swimming World wanted to take a trip down memory lane and re-visit some influential races in swimming history. This week’s race will be the women’s 100 butterfly at the 2009 World Championships in Rome, Italy.<\/em><\/p>\n

Looking back, 2009 was a controversial year in swimming. After a historic 2008 in which 54 long-course world records were set thanks to the new Speedo LZR racer suit that revolutionized suit technology, other companies stepped up with suits of their own and made a mockery of the record book in 2009.<\/p>\n

Leading into the 2009 World Championships in Rome, 15 world records were broken, thanks to the emergence of European-based tech-suits from Jaked and arena. Very few people in the swimming world knew what would happen to the record books come the World Champs in July. Over eight days, an absurd 43 World Records tumbled, sending the soaring art of pioneering crashing to the realms of ‘everyday event’.<\/p>\n

The women’s 100 butterfly was the very first event at the Foro Italico, which was the same venue that hosted the 1994 Worlds and 1960 Olympics. The top seed was Marleen Veldhuis\u00a0<\/strong>of the Netherlands, who was chasing the world record of 56.61 set nine years prior by fellow Dutch woman Inge de Bruijn\u00a0<\/strong>en route to her first Olympic gold medal in Sydney 2000.<\/p>\n

\"jessicah-schipper\"

Jessicah Schipper. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n

Seeded 12th on the entries list was 15-year-old\u00a0Sarah Sjostrom\u00a0<\/strong>of Sweden, the European Champion the year before at just 14<\/a>. At the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Sjostrom was 27th in the 100 butterfly and did not break 59 seconds. The disappointment of Beijing was still weighing her down leading into Rome, but she was hardly a thought coming into the meet.<\/p>\n

\"dana-vollmer\"

Dana Vollmer. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n

“Obviously I had high expectations because I came into a World Championships. I wanted to improve because I didn’t do very well in Beijing in my 100 fly,” Sjostrom told Swimming World <\/em>in June 2019. “I really wanted to improve and show that my gold medal from the European Champs was not just a one-time thing. I wanted to improve and come back and show what I can do.”<\/p>\n

The top seeds coming into the meet were Veldhuis, Australia’s\u00a0Jessicah Schipper\u00a0<\/strong>and USA’s\u00a0Christine Magnuson<\/strong>. Without reigning Olympic champion\u00a0Libby Trickett\u00a0<\/strong>in the field, the gold medal was up for grabs.<\/p>\n

Swimming in the first seeded heat, Sjostrom swam the fastest time in the heats with a 56.76, breaking the championships record of 57.15 set in 2007 by Trickett. That swim turned some heads, but she was just getting started.<\/p>\n

No one really knew what to make of Sjostrom’s heat swim.<\/a> But in the semifinal, she lowered de Bruijn’s nine-year-old world record<\/a> with a 56.44. All of a sudden, the 15-year-old was the fastest of all-time, taking down the oldest world record in the process.<\/p>\n

Leading into the final, Sarah Sjostrom was suddenly a heavy favorite ahead of reigning Olympic bronze medalist Schipper and American Dana Vollmer<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“I didn’t even think I could take a medal. I was surprised I even made the final,” Sjostrom said of her expectations heading into the final.<\/p>\n

“I broke the world record in the semi final so it was definitely over my expectations because if I expected results like that then the pressure on me would have been too high.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Race<\/h3>\n