Sweden has won 60 medals all-time at the World Aquatics Championships, the overwhelming majority of which (57) have come in swimming.
But in 2025, no Swede saw the podium across any of the six disciplines of the championships, marking the first time since 1986 that Sweden hasn’t won a medal in swimming specifically, or any sport generally, at the championships. That is a streak of 16-straight medal winning championships broken.
Sweden is neither a swimming superpower nor a swimming pauper. They fall somewhere in between, often having a handful of stars, but never offering an across-the-board presence that countries like China, the US, and Australia do.
They entered 16 swimmers at the World Championships in 2023 and had 8 finals appearances: all belonging to the women. That includes 5th place finishes in the 400 free relay and 400 medley relay.
The latest generation has been women-dominated for Sweden, especially six-time Olympic medalist and 20-time World Champion (14 in long course) Sarah Sjostrom. While still one of the best in the world, even in her 30s, Sjostrom is sitting out this year while awaiting the birth of her first child, which was a noticeable absence for the Swedes in Singapore.
The country sent only 11 swimmers this year, five men and six women. Their only finalist came on the men’s side, where a perseverant Victor Johansson finished 4th in the 400 free and 5th in the 800 free. He missed a medal by 2.08 seconds in the former event and 6.81 seconds in the latter.
The past of Sweden is dotted with some of the giants of the sport, including names like Therese Alshammar, Lars Frolander, Gunnar Larsson, Anders Holmertz, and Tommy Werner. The men won the 800 free relay at the 1994 championships.
But with an aging core of swimmers who will be in their late 20s, or 30s, by the time the Los Angeles Olympics roll around, Sweden must now turn its attention to the country’s youth ranks and find its next star(s).
Sweden hasn’t felt as deep as it once was, anecdotally. That shows up in places like the Nordic Championships, where, lacking most of their top names, Sweden used to dominate, but has now fallen in the tables. In 2017, Sweden won 21 gold medals, more than any other country. In 2023, they had fallen to 4th in the table with only 9 gold medals.
Countries reach deeper into their ranks to build rosters for meets like the Nordic Championships, so they can be an indicator of what bubbles below the surface.
So who is next for Sweden? Where does the talent lie that could resume the country’s shift to the top? Here are a few names to watch out for.
- Signe Nowak Gudmundsson (2012) – The clear talent of the young group of Swedes, Gudmundsson was the Nordic Age Group Champion earlier this year in the 100 meter free in spite of being one of the youngest competitors there. She swam 57.28 there, and added a 26.35 for silver in the 50 free. At her age, those are times that would compete anywhere in the world. She’s also a very good butterflier, having already been 1:02.96 in that event. That’s almost exactly the same as Sarah Sjostrom‘s best time in the same year of competition (1:02.94).
- Emmy Hallkvist (2008) – Another young swimmer in Sjostrom’s mold, her best times have stalled a bit over the last few years. In 2023, when she was 15, she swam 25.63 in the 50 free and 56.54 in the 100 free. Last year, at 16, she swam 59.19 in the 100 fly at the European Junior Championships to place 4th. She’s clearly got speed-to-burn and finished 9th in the 50 fly at this year’s European Junior Championships, but she just needs to recatch the spark.
- Oliver Munn (2007) – Munn is quickly climbing the world breaststroke ranks. At the European Junior Championships in July, he finished 9th in the semis in the 100 breast in 1:01.64 and 10th in the 50 breast in 28.01. 2022 was his big breakout year, dropping from 1:08-low to 1:02-high in the 100 breast, and he has continued to steadily improve since.
- Ronja Kylen (2009) – It isn’t just the times in the sprint backstrokes for 16-year-old Ronja Kylen that stand out (29.78/1:04.51). It’s the progression. The 12 best times of her career in the 100 meter backstroke have all been in 2025, dropping a total of 2.1 seconds off her previous best.
- Sofia Travar (2011) – Travar made her international debut at the Nordic Age Group Championships earlier this year. She has a lifetime best of 1:14.36 in the 100 meter breaststroke.
They won medals because of Sarah, not because of a system
Sarah has been winning medals since 1986? Smaller countries always rely on 1-2 big names, but Sweden has had a pretty good history with the Hanson sisters, Michelle Coleman. They’ve been contenders in (women’s medley) relays before – can’t do that with just 1 person
Sweden has 57 medals in swimming at the World Aquatics Championships. Sarah has 25 (including 2 relays, which she didn’t swim alone).
As addressed in the article, they’ve also been doing more poorly at other meets that Sarah doesn’t regularly attend anyway. So there does seem to be some structural issue. Anecdotally, many of their national meets have become really flat and unless there are foreign swimmers entered, almost aren’t worth covering.
There was a Swedish swimmer in the early 1970’s named Gunnar Larsson, he retired after the 1973 World Championships (22 years old) because there were no money in swimming and to focus on his University studies (if the name is not familiar, which it probably is not to most people anymore, ask someone or look up the closest swimming race in history.
There have been other Swedish swimmers before Sarah that won medals and gold medals and set world records. I agree that none of them have done what Sarah has, but she is not the only one.
The Dutch press are fairly critical of the NED performance (only two individual medals and one relay). I can’t imagine what the SWE press are writing.
No need to imagine (use google translate): https://www.dn.se/sport/svagaste-vm-insatsen-pa-39-ar-kravs-mycket-jobb/
https://www.aftonbladet.se/senastenytt/ttsport/sport/a/kw55qv/ingen-medley-final-for-sverige
https://www.expressen.se/sport/simning/sverige-lamnar-sim-vm-utan-medaljer-hade-siktat-hogre/
They should base a squad in Australia
If I were an elite swimmer, I’d rather train in an outdoor pool in Queensland than in Sweden
Several Swedish swimmers have trained in Australia in the past, for a few months. One of my dreams is that Robin Hansson will go there and work on his 400 free. I never forget the 2018 LCM European Championships in Glasgow where he swam a 3:51 400 free and it looked like a cool-down swim.
NEC in Stockholm offer very good environment to train in, some training camps in Mediterranean sun couple of times a year plus….
I missed paying attention to Sweden on the women’s relay legs. Normally they are intriguing to watch because Sjostrom will put them in great position then the subsequent legs steadily fall off to the point it’s borderline whether they qualify for the final.
I’d say 20-year old Olivia Klint Ipsa is quite promising as well. She hasn’t had a great 2025, but last year she swam 30.84 in the LCM 50 breaststroke and 1:06.92 in the LCM 100 breaststroke. Another positive thing for Swedish swimming is that two old sprinters are attempting to start a professional team in Gothenburg: https://www.growthobjective.se/about
It seemed to be trending so up with the Hanssons and Coleman until it wasn’t. On the women’s side at least
In case you didn’t know, Michelle Coleman has retired. The Hansson-sisters did really well when they swam in the US (USC & NC State), but Sophie has been battling back problems for a while now and both of them seem to be struggling to find the right training group for them.
The first 1-2 years in England Loughborough went fairly well for them, Louise went there late 2020 or early 2021 and Sophie after graduating with her Bachelor’s degree from NC State
Yeah just hoped the team could ride their momentum
Jakob Harlem (2008) – he is from Norway.
Great article and summary of past, present and the possible future.