67th SETTE COLLI TROPHYÂ
- Friday, June 26th – Sunday, June 28th
- Prelims at 9am local (3am ET)/A-Finals at 7pm local (1pm ET)
- Foro Italico, Rome, Italy
- SwimSwam Preview
- Entry List
- Live Results
- Prelims Livestream
After having been missing from the entries for the 67th Sette Colli Trophy which began today in Rome, Italy, World Record holder and Olympic champion Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden is indeed racing at the Foro Italico pool.
The 32-year-old new mom competed in her first 50m butterfly since having given birth to her first child, son Adrian, last August.
The speedster wasted no time making her presence known, logging a super swift morning outing of 25.31 to claim the 2nd seed behind another World Record holder, Gretchen Walsh of the United States.
23-year-old Walsh ripped a head-turning morning result of 24.91 to lead the pack and register the #1 time of the field en route to landing lane four for tonight’s final.
Additional contenders include Silvia Di Pietro, the fastest Italian of the heats, who hit 26.05, tying Slovakian swimmer Tamara Potocka.
2024 world champion in the 100m fly, Germany’s Angelina Köhler, delivered a solid 26.12 to also put her hat into the ring for potential hardware.
Walsh’s time represents the 3rd-fastest of her prolific career, sitting only behind the 24.66 lifetime best she notched at last year’s U.S. Open and the 24.83 which garnered her the gold at the World Championships in Singapore.
Sjostrom is the reigning World Record holder in this 50m fly event, owning a career-best of 24.43 from 2014.
Sjostrom’s first official race back after Adrian’s birth came at the Malmsten Swim Open Stockholm last April. She posted a rapid result of 24.36 to surprise even herself at how quickly she has come back to form.
With tonight’s 50m fly final yet to come, Walsh ranks #1 in the world and Sjostrom checks in as the #4 performer in the world this season.
2025-2026 LCM Women 50 FLY
Walsh
24.91
| 2 | Kate Douglass | USA | 25.24 | 05/01 |
| 3 | Zhang Yufei | CHN | 25.27 | 06/21 |
| 4 | Sarah SJOSTROM | SWE | 25.31 | 06/26 |
| 5 | Alexandria PERKINS | AUS | 25.44 | 03/07 |
So wild that we’re finally going to be able to see Walsh vs Sjostrom in Butterfly. I think the last (and only) time they did was July 2023 in the 50FL.
Given the storied histories each has had, specializing in the same events, setting World Records in the same events, etc. it really is a wonder it hasn’t happened since (Paris 2024 100 Freestyle notwithstanding).
Granted, Sjostrom came off a long injury followed by pregnancy and Walsh is now peaking. Still should be fun!
I need someone to please tell me how I can watch finals 🙂 i will get a vpn if needed
Very cool.
There have been some big A final misses:
Peaty 50 breast
Wiffen 400 free
Ceccon 100 fly
Who’s actually surprised about Wiffen? And peaty sprained his finger or something? Look at his IG
And A Walsh missed in 100 breast
but she swam the 200 free right before and is 6th going into finals