2016 Swedish Nationals Day 4: Sjostrom and Alshammar Blitz 50 Fly

2016 Swedish National Championships

• July 6 – July 10, 2016
• Norrköping, Sweden
• Competition Website
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Results
• Link to Competition Facebook Page

Sarah Sjostrom left the field in her wake in the 50 fly finals today, winning the race in a blistering 25.07.  Now six-time Olympian Therese Alshammar came in 2nd with a 25.78, the only other swimmer to go sub-26 in the race.  Sjostrom’s time comes as the second-fastest in the world this year in this non-Olympic event; however, Sjostrom already has the fastest time in the world this year with a 24.99 swum in May.  2016 Swedish Olympic team member Louise Hansson came in third with a 26.48.

The women’s 100 breaststroke final was won by Jennie Johansson in a time of 1:07.74.  Johansson, who will be competing in Rio next month, missed her own meet record by little over half-a-second.  Second and third places went to Jessica Eriksson and Vilma Elskstrom in 1:08.37 and 1:09.44, respectively.

The men’s 200 backstroke was won by Kristian Kron in a time of 2:02.77.  Coming in a narrow second-place was Petter Fredriksson in a 2:02.79.  Swedish national record holder Mattias Carlsson came in fourth with a 2:04.40.  The men’s 50 freestyle was won by Christoffer Carlsen, who won the 100 freestyle on day 1 of the championships.  Carlsen’s time of 22.66 was three-tenths-of-a-second faster than second-place-finisher Jonathan Kling (22.95).

The men’s 100 meter butterfly was won by Jesper Bjork in a time of 54.09.  There was a tie for second between Filip Svedberg and Jesper Jonssson at 54.80.  Olympian Michelle Coleman won the 400 freestyle in a 4:09.49, establishing a new meet record in the process.  At 100 meters Coleman had already established a five-second lead over second-place finisher Erika Dahlgren, who picked up silver in a time of 4:23.70.  Coleman’s new meet record lowers the previous record set in 2007 by Gabriella Fagundez by one-and-a-half seconds.  Winning the men’s 800 freestyle was 1500 meter champion Adam Paulsson with a time of 8:13.68.

The final event of the day was the women’s 400 medley relay, which was won by the team from Södertörns in a time of 4:10.40.  Sarah Sjostrom swam the butterfly leg for the championship-winning relay in a time of 55.43, which was not only faster than every other butterfly swimmer in the field, but faster than every other team’s freestyle leg.  Other notable splits from the race include Michelle Coleman leading off her team in a 1:00.61 in the backstroke, and Jessica Eriksson, coming to the assist of Sjostrom and their team with a 1:08.04 in the breaststroke.  100 meter breaststroke champion Jennie Johansson went a blistering 1:06.98 in the breaststroke for her team, which picked up third place.

Event Winners:

• Women’s 50 Butterfly: Sarah Sjostrom, 25.07
• Women’s 100 Breaststroke: Jennie Johansson, 1:07.74
• Men’s 200 Backstroke: Kristian Kron, 2:02.77
• Men’s 50 Freestyle: Christoffer Carlsen, 22.66
• Men’s 100 Butterfly: Jesper Bjork, 54.09
• Women’s 400 Freestyle: Michelle Coleman, 4:09.49 (MR)
• Men’s 800 Freestyle: Adam Paulsson, 8:13.68