Sarah Sjostrom Cranks Out Championship Record in 100 Fly Semis

2016 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 4

• Monday, May 16th – Sunday, May 22nd
• Prelims: 10:00 AM (London Time) / 5:00 AM (Eastern Time)
• Finals: 6:00 PM (London Time) / 1:00 PM (Eastern Time)
• London Aquatics Center, London, UK
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results
• Live Stream

Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom continued her dominant showing at the European Championships on day 4 with an impressive 56.12 in the women’s 100 butterfly semi-finals, breaking Jeanette Ottesen‘s meet record of 56.51 set at the 2014 Championship in Berlin. Sjostrom’s swim also checks in as her 6th fastest time ever, and the 8th fastest of all-time, not bad considering she’s reportedly untapered.

Sjostrom will seek her fourth European title in the event tomorrow as she was the champion in 2008, 2010, and 2012. In 2014 she was out-touched by one one-hundredth of a second by Jeanette Ottesen for the gold.

Here’s a comparative look at Sjostrom’s splits from today, Ottesen’s old meet record, and Sjostrom’s world record from the World Championships last summer:

• Jeanette Ottesen, 2014 European Championships: 26.47 / 56.51 (30.04)
• Sarah Sjostrom, 2015 World Championships: 26.17 / 55.64 (29.47)
• Sarah Sjostrom, 2016 European Championships: 26.11 / 56.12 (30.01)

Sjostrom was actually out faster at the 50 than she was in her world record swim, which is a positive sign heading into the final tomorrow.

Here’s a look at the top eight all-time swims, six of which belong to Sjostrom:

1. Sarah Sjostrom, 2015, 55.64
2. Sarah Sjostrom, 2016, 55.68
3. Sarah Sjostrom, 2015, 55.74
4. Dana Vollmer, 2012, 55.98
5. Sarah Sjostrom, 2015, 56.04
6. Sarah Sjostrom, 2009, 56.06
7. Liu Zige, 2009, 56.07
8. Sarah Sjostrom, 2016, 56.12

Ottesen qualified 2nd behind Sjostrom in 57.38, and Ilaria Bianchi of Italy qualified 3rd in 57.47.

Sjostrom’s swim of 55.68 from March remains as the top swim in the world this year. Her world record of 55.64 will be on high alert tomorrow night.