Sweden has picked five young athletes – three women and two men – to represent the nation at the Youth Olympic Games this coming October.
Here is the full Swedish lineup, per the Swedish Swimming Federation website:
- Hannah Brunzell
- Sara Junevik
- Julia Månsson
- Björn Seeliger
- Robin Hanson
Women: Brunzell is a breaststroker who took two bronzes at European Juniors in 2017. Junevik is a pretty good sprint fly/free type, who took bronze in the 50 fly at European Juniors in 2017. Mansson is also a breaststroker, and projects more up to the 200 than the sprintier Brunzell.
Seeliger was the European Juniors gold medalist in the 50 free and is currently Sweden’s fastest 50 freestyler overall – senior or junior – with a 22.27 from that meet. Hanson is a solid mid-distance free type who won bronze at European Juniors in the 200 free.
The 2018 Youth Olympic Games will be the third summer edition of the event, which began in 2010 in Singapore and continued in 2014 in Nanjing, China. The meet is highlighted by very small rosters (a maximum of 4 boys and 4 girls from each nation) that encourages and rewards versatility. Athletes must be between 15 and 18 as of December 31 of this year, meaning only athletes born between the years 2000 and 2003 will be eligible.
Buenos Aires, Argentina will host the 2018 edition. The swimming lineup features the 50 through 800 free (no 1500 free for boys or girls), the 50 through 200 of fly, back and breast, plus a 200 IM. The event will also contest a 4×100 free relay and 4×100 medley relay for each gender and mixed 4×100 free and 4×100 medley relays.
Sweden’s roster won’t allow for any single-gender relays, but could combine for some pretty decent mixed relays. Both men are great freestylers, so combined with Junevik, they’ll only need one of the female breaststrokers to hold their own. The mixed medley relay has two solid breaststroke options, with Junevik likely on fly and either Seeliger or Hanson crossing over into backstroke, where they’re pretty good.