Jennie Johansson, Sarah Sjostrom, the rest of the Swedish National Elite Center (NEC), and Therese Alshammar are in the middle of three weeks of training at altitude in Font Romeu, France.
Specifically, Font Romeu is located in the Pyrenees Mountains, about 1800 meters (5,900 feet) above sea level.
“The quality of training is high and hard and we are hoping to kickstart the season with a successful camp,” the veteran Johansson said of the camp’s purposes.
The camp includes 10 of Sweden’s best swimmers from the National Elite Center, in addition to Alshammar and her coach Johan Wallberg.
The team arrived on September 29th and will be returning home on October 20th, making for a solid three-week camp.
Sweden sent 11 swimmers to the 2012 World Short Course Championships, but didn’t come away with any medals. The return of Alshammar, one of the greatest short course swimmers in history, should provide a boost, though at 37 years old she’s not the same swimmer who won the 50 fly title in 2010.
Sweden has not publicly announced their roster for Short Course Worlds.
The group in France is using the hashtag #necabovethesea to chronicle their trip on Instagram.
Carl Jenner