{"id":594481,"date":"2024-08-03T02:36:34","date_gmt":"2024-08-03T09:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=594481"},"modified":"2024-08-03T02:57:06","modified_gmt":"2024-08-03T09:57:06","slug":"paris-olympics-day-8-prelims-in-pursuit-of-sprint-double-sarah-sjostrom-cruises-to-top-seed-in-50-freestyle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/paris-olympics-day-8-prelims-in-pursuit-of-sprint-double-sarah-sjostrom-cruises-to-top-seed-in-50-freestyle\/","title":{"rendered":"Paris Olympics, Day 8 Prelims: In Pursuit of Sprint Double, Sarah Sjostrom Cruises to Top Seed in 50 Freestyle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paris Olympics, Day 8 Prelims: In Pursuit of Sprint Double, Sarah Sjostrom Cruises to Top Seed in 50 Freestyle<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Sarah Sjostrom<\/strong> stood on the top step of the medals podium earlier this week, it was a surprise appearance. The Swedish star was presented a gold medal for her work in the 100-meter freestyle, an event she initially planned on bypassing.<\/p>\n

In the 50 freestyle, the expectations are reversed.<\/p>\n

The overwhelming favorite to capture gold, Sjostrom blazed through the opening round of the 50 freestyle on Saturday morning at La Defense Arena in Paris. The world-record holder in the event, Sjostrom clocked a time of 23.85. That effort was comfortably clear of the 24.27 that was managed by Poland’s Kasia Wasick<\/strong>, who will be the No. 2 seed for the semifinals.<\/p>\n

Three years ago, Sjostrom was the silver medalist in the 50 free at the Tokyo Games, placing behind Australian Emma McKeon.<\/strong> But since that runner-up showing, the Swede has been an untouchable force in the one-lap sprint. In addition to collecting three consecutive world titles (2022-24), Sjostrom set a world record of 23.61 at the 2023 World Champs. The next closest performer in history is Germany’s Britta Steffen,<\/strong> whose best time of 23.73 was set at the peak of the super-suit era.<\/p>\n

American Gretchen Walsh,<\/strong> the silver medalist in the 100 butterfly on the second night of competition in Paris, advanced to the semifinals as the third seed. Walsh touched the wall in 24.37.<\/p>\n

“I feel really good about the race,” Walsh said. “I feel like normally, Day 8 prelims is a pretty hard one to get through. The fact that I was able to show up and put up a pretty good time for me, I\u2019m pretty excited about tonight. I think I executed pretty well, and I\u2019m just looking forward to having the opportunity to swim again in semifinals and hopefully finals, and I also have the relay to focus on at night.”<\/p>\n

Walsh was followed by Australia’s Shayna Jack<\/strong> (24.38) and Meg Harris<\/strong> (24.50). The sixth slot went to China’s Zhang Yufei<\/strong> (24.54).<\/p>\n

“That was my first individual on the Olympic stage, so it was nice to just get out there, see how the competitions is, see how I feel in the pool,” Harris said. “I\u2019m happy with that.”<\/p>\n

The United States’ Simone Manuel<\/strong> was locked out of the semifinals after going 24.87 in her heat. That effort finished in a tie for 18th and was .15 shy of what was needed to reach the evening session.<\/p>\n