Sjostrom’s 53.12 Lead Off & Steenbergen’s 53.02 Highlight W. 4×100 Free Relay

2022 EUROPEAN AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Thursday, August 11 – Wednesday, August 17, 2022 (pool swimming)
• Rome, Italy
• Parco Del Foro Italico
• LCM (50m)
• Start Times
  • Prelims: 9:00 am local / 3:00 am ET
  • Finals: 6:00 pm local / 12:00 pm ET
• Meet Central
• Event Schedule
• Entries
• Live Results
• Live Stream
• Day 3 Finals Heat Sheet
• Day 3 Finals Live Recap

WOMEN’S 4×100 FREESTYLE RELAY – FINALS

• World Record: 3:29.69, Australia – 2021 Olympic Games
• European Record: 3:31.72, Netherlands – 2009 World Championships
• European Championship Record: 3:33.62, Netherlands – 2008
• 2020 European Champion: Great Britain, 3:34.17

Results:

1. Great Britain – 3:36.47
2. Sweden – 3:37.29
3. Netherlands – 3:37.59
4. Italy – 3:38.01
5. Hungary – 3:39.42
6. France – 3:39.61
7. Spain – 3:41.01
8. Germany – 3:43.92

The British women repeated as the 4×100 freestyle relay European champions on Day 3 of Euros in Rome. Sweden had a held the lead through the first 200 meters, but Great Britain continued to close the gap on the third leg, then after diving in less than a half-second behind, Freya Anderson brought them home in 53.54 for gold, the third-fastest split in the field.

Lead-Offs:

Sarah Sjostrom got Sweden off to a tremendous start, clocking 53.12, the fastest lead-off in the field by 1.69 seconds. Sjostrom won silver at Worlds in 52.80, and though this swim was over three-tenths slower and well off her world record, it still would have won her gold in the individual 100 free here in Rome. Sjostrom opted to skip both the 100 free and 100 fly at these championships, focusing instead on the 50 free and 50 fly. Earlier in the session, Sjostrom won her fifth European championship in the 50 fly.

Hungary’s Nikoletta Padar scratched the individual 100 free semifinal to focus on the 4×200 free relay. Here, she led off the relay and posted 55.19, much faster than the 55.66 she posted in prelims.

Interestingly, France opted not to use Charlotte Bonnet, who won silver in this event on Day 2, on their relay. Bonnet showed herself to be on good form in the 100 free; in the semis, she posted 53.56 for her fastest time in three years. Mary-Ambre Moluh led the French off, posting 55.55 after qualifying for the women’s 50 back final in 27.86.

Rolling Splits:

Marrit Steenbergen continues to be an absolute superstar on the Dutch relays. Earlier in the meet, she swam the fastest rolling split in the women’s 4×200 freestyle, and the fastest 100 free split by a woman in the mixed 4×100 medley relay, which was a blistering 52.33. Though she wasn’t quite as fast as that in this relay, she still had the fastest rolling split in 53.02. She overtook Silvia Di Pietro, powering the Netherlands to the bronze medal ahead of the Italians.

The British duo of Anna Hopkin and Freya Anderson posted the second and third fastest splits in the field, though a bit off Steenbergen’s pace. Hopkin was a tenth slower than she went on the mixed medley relay, but 53.44 is still a strong split for her. She also began to close the gap for the Brits, out-splitting Sweden’s second leg Louise Hansson by .77 seconds. Anderson was under her bronze medal time of 53.63.

Silvia Di Pietro had a good swim as well, anchoring the Italians in 53.56. Though Steenbergen ran her down, Di Pietro’s 53.56 split is significantly faster than the 54.17 she anchored the mixed medley relay in.