{"id":441477,"date":"2020-07-27T08:15:40","date_gmt":"2020-07-27T15:15:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=441477"},"modified":"2020-07-30T12:38:37","modified_gmt":"2020-07-30T19:38:37","slug":"tokyo-vision-sarah-sjostrom-chases-history-repeat-in-womens-100-butterfly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tokyo-vision-sarah-sjostrom-chases-history-repeat-in-womens-100-butterfly\/","title":{"rendered":"Tokyo Vision: Sarah Sjostrom Chases History, Repeat in Women’s 100 Butterfly"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tokyo Vision: Sarah Sjostrom Chases History, Repeat in Women’s 100 Butterfly<\/strong><\/p>\n

Had the COVID-19 pandemic not shaken the world, the 2020 Olympic Games<\/a> in Tokyo would be unfolding right now, titles and podium finishes earned by the finest athletes from around the world. Instead, we are in a competition lull and hopeful that the Games will be held next summer, with COVID-19 neutralized.<\/em><\/p>\n

As we reach the nine days over which the swimming competition of a delayed Olympiad would have taken place, Swimming World is taking a glimpse at what might have unfolded this summer, had the Olympics not been postponed. Following the official schedule, we offer our virtual fields of eight finalists for each event and take a brief look at how the racing might have panned out until a few strokes away from decision and a result that will not be known until July\/August 2021.<\/em><\/p>\n

League of Olympic Legends: Mary T. Meagher Tops 100 Fly Podium With Sjostrom & De Bruijn<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Event:<\/strong> Women\u2019s 100 butterfly<\/p>\n

World Record:<\/strong> Sarah Sjostrom (2016) \u2013 55.48<\/p>\n

Historical Note #1:<\/strong> The 100-meter butterfly, first added to the Games in 1956, has never had a repeat Olympic champion. The closest to a repeat gold medalist was Inge de<\/strong> Bruijn<\/strong> and Dana Vollmer,<\/strong> who followed their gold medals with bronzes in the following Games (2000 and 2004 for de Bruijn; 2012 and 2016 for Vollmer).<\/p>\n

Historical Note #2:<\/strong> The event is home to one of the longest standing world records in history: Mary T. Meagher\u2019s<\/strong> time of 57.93, set on Aug. 16, 1981, held up for 18 years and one week before falling to Jenny Thompson<\/strong> in 1999. Meagher, the 1984 Olympic champ, set her first world record in April 1980 but didn\u2019t compete at that summer\u2019s Olympics due to the American Olympic boycott.<\/p>\n

Virtual Vision<\/h3>\n

The Finalists (Listed Alphabetically)<\/strong><\/p>\n