Sjostrom Records World’s Fastest 50 Butterfly in Stockholm

2016 STOCKHOLM OPEN

• Wednesday March 30th – Saturday April 2nd
• Stockholm, Sweden
• Prelims – 9:30 am local (3:30 am EST/12:30 am PST)   Finals – 4:30 pm local (Friday – 4 pm) (10:30 am EST/7:30 PST)
• Start list and Results

Sarah Sjostrom won the women’s 50 butterfly at the Stockholm Open in a time 25.15. Sjostrom beat her season’s best which was the world’s top ranked time of 25.18.

Sjostrom won the event in Kazan in a time of 24.69 and has a lifetime best of 24.43. The time she put up today is faster than any other woman has recorded over the last four years.

Russian Svetlana Chimrova finished second in a time of 26.26 followed by Sjostrom’s Swedish teammate Therese Alshammar who hit the wall in a time of 26.29.

Sjostrom started the her day by winning the women’s 200 freestyle in the world’s second fastest time. Sjostrom took the event in a time of 1:54.87 and was not far off her lifetime best of 1:54.31, which she put up in the lead off spot of the Swedish 4 x 200 freestyle relay in Kazan. The only women to have swum faster this year is American Katie Ledecky who posted a 1:54.43 at the Arena Pro Series in January.

Sjostrom’s, who did not swim the individual event in Kazan, betters Ledecky’s World Championship winning time of 1:55.16.

Russian Viktorii Andreeva finished second in a time of 1:58.86 followed by Ida Marko-Varga who recorded a 2:00.27.

Norwegian Henrk Christiansen dominated the men’s 400 freestyle taking the event by almost six seconds. Christiansen won the event in a time of 3:46.37 placing him atop of the world rankings in the event.

Christiansen broke his own national record of 3:47.71, which he recorded in the prelims of the World Championships where he finished 13th.  He is also the first Norwegian to earn the opportunity to compete in Rio finishing over a second under the FINA A standard of 3:47.96.

The improvments that Christiansen has made in this event have been extraordinary. Just three years ago he had a lifetime best of 3:57.29.

Adam Paulsson of Sweden finished second in a time of 3:52.33 followed by fellow Swede Victor Johansson who hit the wall in a time of 3:53.83.

World champion Marco Koch of Germany took the men’s 200 breaststroke in a time of 2:08.46. Koch was not far off his season’s best of 2:08.46, which he put up in January at the Luxembourg Euro Meet.

Erik Persson of Sweden finished second in a time of 2:10.35 punching his ticket to Rio. Persson improved on his lifetime best and Swedish record time of 2:10.41, which well under the FINA A time of 2:11.66. He will be the sixth member on the Swedish Olympic team which already includes Sjostrom, Simon Sjodin, Jennie Johansson, Michelle Coleman and Louise Hansson who all pre-qualified for the event.

Lithuanian Giedrius Titenis finished third in a time of 2:13.33.

Aliaksandra Herasimenia of Belarus put up the world’s fifth fastest time winning the women’s 50 backstroke in a time of 27.53. Russian Anastasiia Fesikova finished second in a time of 28.26 followed by Ida Lindborg of Sweden who hit the wall in a time of 28.39.

Polish swimmers Milena Karpisz and Paulina Piechota finished first and second in the women’s 1500 freestyle. Karpisz hit the wall first in a time of 16:53.44 followed by Piechota who touched in a time of 17:00.98. Hanna Eriksson of Sweden finished third in a time of 17:30.95.

World Championship silver medalist Radoslaw Kawecki of Poland had a stunningly poor performance in the men’s 200 backstroke recording a time of 2:00.20. Kawecki finished second to Italian Luca Mencarini who posted a 1:58.73. Kawecki led at the 100 meter mark turning in a time of 58.19, 55 one-hundredths of a second ahead of Mencarini. The Italian took over the lead at the with a 50 left to go and never looked back.

Mattias Carlsson of Sweden finished third in a time of 2:00.71.

In the men’s 50 fly, it was Italy’s Piero Codia who took the win in 23.65, beating out a pair of Russians: Sergei Fesikov (23.65) and Evgeny Sedov (23.94).