2023 World Champs Preview: Sjostrom Aiming to 5-Peat in the 50 Fly

2023 WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• July 23 to 30, 2023
• Fukuoka, Japan
• Marine Messe Fukuoka
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• SwimSwam Preview Index

By the Numbers – Women’s 50 Butterfly

• World Record: Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden – 24.43 (2014)
• World Junior Record: Rikako Ikee, Japan –  25.46 (2017)
• Championship Record: Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden – 24.60 (2017)
• 2022 World Champion: Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden – 24.95

If we consider Katie Ledecky’s dominance in the distance freestyles to be exemplary, then Sarah Sjostrom’s dominance in the 50 fly has to be otherworldly. In an event that is 16 times shorter than the 800 and 30 times shorter than the 1500, owning 24 of the top 25 times is mind-boggling. The one spot that does not have her name is the 20th position held by compatriot Therese Alshammar, whose super-suited former world record of 25.07 was set back in 2009 when Sjostrom was just 15.

She’s So Gold

Mostly known for competing in the blue and yellow colors of Sweden’s flag, Sjostrom is probably more associated with the color gold. After all, she has 10 gold medals from long course World Championships. She has been undefeated in the 50 fly at this meet dating back to 2015.

At the European Championships, her run is even more impressive. She has been undefeated in the 50 fly since first winning it at the 2012 edition of the meet (she did not compete in 2021).

Last summer in the finals of the 50 fly, Sjostrom posted her 13th time under 25 seconds, touching in 24.95. A few weeks later at the European Championships in Rome, she won gold in a time of 24.96, her 14th time under 25 seconds.

What is perhaps scarier to her competition is the form she has been on this season. At the last stop of the Mare Nostrum in Monaco, Sjostrom posted a world-leading time in the 50 free (23.82), and later did the same in the 50 fly.

After swimming 25.07 at the start of the final session and equalling her 20th-fastest time ever, Sjostrom came back to absolutely crush the final round of the skins-like competition. Her winning time of 24.89 beat the field by over a second and set a new Monaco meet record.

What’s even more impressive about that swim is the fact that it checked in as her seventh-fastest ever in the event — a time that not only was faster than her winning marks at the 2022 Worlds and 2022 Europeans but also marked her fastest time outside of a championship since 2017.

With reports that Sjostrom plans to drop the 100 free from her schedule, it seems all the more written in stone that she will five-peat in the 50 fly.

Gimmie Silver

Photo courtesy KMSP/FFN/S.Kempinaire

Being the only swimmer with a 50 time under 25, and having done so now 15 times, Sjostrom doesn’t have much competition for the gold medal. In fact, no active swimmer has been under 25.1.

Since the 2015 World Championships, Sjostrom has had a margin of victory of at least three-tenths of a second in every edition. The closest to Sjostrom was Dutch sprinting ace Ranomi Kromowidjojo who was .33 seconds behind in 2019, touching in a time of 25.35. Last year’s margin was slightly larger with .36 separating Sjostrom from the runner-up, Melanie Henique.

While the difference in time between Sjostrom and Henique seems significant, the Frenchwoman’s silver medal-winning time of 25.31 is the fastest anyone else has been in a Worlds final since before 2015.

While Sjostrom did beat Henique in the finals of the Mare Nostrum stop in Monaco by over a second, Henique has had a very successful season. After starting the season off with a time of 25.97 in February, she has since dropped that time to 25.24 from the French National Championships in June. That time equaled her second-fastest ever, currently ranks her 3rd in the world this year, and is faster than her silver medal-winning mark from last year. Henique’s personal best stands at 25.17 from the French National Championships in 2021.

Paint It, Bronze

Yufei Zhang (photo: Jack Spitser)

Behind Sjostrom and Henique at the 2022 Worlds was bronze medalist Zhang Yufei. The Chinese swimmer touched .01 behind Henique, finishing in 25.32, which is the 2nd fastest put-up in a Worlds final by someone not named Sjostrom since 2015.

While Henique has since bested her time from the 2022 Worlds, Zhang has only matched it, swimming a 25.32 at the Chinese Spring Championships. One says only, but it still is a remarkable feat to hit a lifetime best and national record at a non-international competition.

Bronze seems to be Zhang’s medal of choice at the World Championships. Despite being the gold medalist in the 200 fly at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games and the silver medalist in the 100, Zhang has been bronze or bust at long course Worlds. In addition to the 3rd place finish in the 50, she also placed 3rd in the 100 and 200 fly. In 2017, she won a bronze as part of the mixed medley relay. In 2015, additional bronzes in the 200 fly and 4×200 free relay.

Also seemingly having an infatuation with the bronze medals is Farida Osman. The Egyptian swimmer and Cal product has made every final of the 50 fly since 2013. She placed 7th in 2013 (26.17), 5th in 2015 (25.78), 3rd in 2017 (25.39), 3rd in 2019 (25.47), and last year finished 4th in a new African record time of 25.38, just .06 away from her beloved bronze.

Entering this year’s Worlds she holds a season’s best time of 25.98 from the Malmsten Swim Open, held back in April, a time that ranks her only 20th this season. However, given her past consistency, it would not be surprising to see her back in the finals.

Sweet Virginia

Gretchen Walsh (photo: Jack Spitser)

Entering the meet as 3rd fastest performer of all time is a well-known star in the American college realm, but a relative unknown on the world stage. Entering the 2023 U.S. Trials with a personal best that was not in the top 25 performers in the world, let alone amongst the top 10 of Americans, Gretchen Walsh shocked the American swimming audience and put the world (and Sjostrom) on notice.

Seeded with a 25.97, the UVA swimmer dropped it to a 25.54 after prelims, a very respectable time that would have placed 7th in the finals at Worlds. But Walsh was not done. At finals, she dropped the hammer, swimming 25.11 and in the process breaking the American Record and ranking her 2nd in the world this season and the 3rd fastest performer of all time.

Sitting four spots behind her in those rankings is Walsh’s fellow American, Torri Huske. Huske, who grew up and swam club in Virginia, had a very busy schedule at the 2022 Worlds: four individual events and four relays. Despite starting off very well, with a gold in the 100 fly and a bronze in the 100 free, Huske faltered in the 50 fly. In the semis, she set the then-American Record of 25.38, but was unable to replicate the speed in the final, ultimately falling to 5th in a time of 25.45.

This year, with a smaller event list, Huske could be a major threat to make the podium. Her runner-up time of 25.32 at the U.S. Trials was a new personal best and would have been a new American Record had it not been for Walsh.

Sympathy for the Field

With Sjostrom so dominant and Osman so consistent, making the finals of the 50 fly has been very hard over the years. Attempting to repeat the feat is last year’s 8th-place finisher, Dutch swimmer Maaike De Waard. Ranked 8th in the world this year, De Waard will look to improve upon her season-best time of 25.64 from December’s Rotterdam Qualification Meet. That time is already .21 faster than her time at Worlds last year and is only .02 off her personal-best and 2022 European bronze-winning time of 25.62.

Falling short of the finals last summer but looking to improve upon their 9th- and 10th-place finishes are Sweden’s Sara Junevik and Greece’s Anna Ntountounaki. Sjostrom’s compatriot is currently ranked 12th in the world with a time of 25.82, which is only .02 off her 2022 Worlds time. On the other hand, Ntountounaki’s season best of 26.15 is a bit aways from her 2022 Worlds time of 25.89.

Not competing in 2022 and finishing 22nd in 2019 is Germany’s Angelina Köhler. Despite not making the semifinals in 2019, Köhler finds herself in a good position to contest for a spot in the finals this year. She currently ranks 10th in the world with a time of 25.75. In addition to this accolade, she swam a new national record of 57.22 in the 100 fly back in April, showing that 2023 has been a marked improvement over past seasons.

Rikako Ikee 2017 World Championships Budapest, Hungary (photo: Mike Lewis)

She’s a Fighter

Technically, Walsh is not alone as the third-fastest performer in this event. Sharing that honor is the host nation’s Rikako Ikee. In 2018, Ikee swam 25.11, posting the fastest time since 2009 by someone not named Sjostrom. After a leukemia diagnosis in 2019, Ikee has been making her way back into the world rankings. This year, she sits 7th in the world with her 25.59 from the 2023 Japan Swim. At the first stop of the Mare Nostrum tour, Ikee made her first international podium since her diagnosis, finishing in 3rd (25.89) behind Sjostrom (25.24) and Henique (25.77).

Waiting on an Answer

Maggie Macneil (photo: Jack Spitser)

Two of the world’s fastest sprinters are large question marks when it comes to the 50 fly: Canada’s Maggie MacNeil and Australia’s Emma McKeon.

Despite winning gold in the 100 fly (55.83) over Sjostrom and McKeon in 2019, MacNeil failed to qualify for the 50 final, winding up 14th overall with a time of 26.28. At the 2022 Worlds, MacNeil only competed in relays for the Canadian team. Later on in the summer, however, she swam at the Commonwealth Games. Again in the 100, she placed ahead of McKeon winning in 56.36, but in the 50 she finished just 4th in a time of 26.17.

Despite tying for gold in the short course 50 fly in December, MacNeil’s long course season-best of 26.05 only ranks her 24th in the world this year. Her personal best is 25.97 from last year’s Mare Nostrum.

McKeon won the 2022 Commonwealth Games 50 fly, but in a rather pedestrian 25.90. Her best time is only 25.87, placing her well outside the top 25 fastest performers of all time, despite being among the top 5 of all time in the 50/100 free and 100 fly. To be fair, McKeon does not have as many opportunities to swim this non-Olympic event and has not entered it at Worlds since 2015, when she tied for 21st (26.79).

Per the World Aquatics website, McKeon is not entered in the 50 fly.

SwimSwam’s Picks

Dark Horse: Ai Soma, Japan – Placing 2nd behind Rikako Ikee at the Japanese Trials, Soma could very well sneak into the final with some inspired swimming in front of a home crowd. She has a season-best of 25.85, which is currently 13th in the world. Her personal best of 25.76 is from last year’s Japanese Trials and is only .01 off the time De Waard swam to qualify 8th into the finals of the 50 last year.