Robin Hanson Crunches His Own Swedish Record in the 200m Free at Grand Prix

2025 Swedish Swim Games – Grand Prix 1

• November 7-9, 2025
• Upplands Vasby, Sweden
• Short Course Meters (25 meters)
• Full Meet Results

A post-college resurgence for Sweden’s Robin Hanson continued last weekend with a new Swedish Record in the 200 meter free in short course.

The 24-year-old former Cal Golden Bear won the race at the Swedish Grand Prix 1 on Sunday in 1:41.98, beating out Swiss international Antonio Djakovic (1:43.99). That time for Hanson smashed his own personal best, and previous Swedish Record, of 1:43.21 that was done at the 2024 Short Course World Championships.

Splits Comparison:

Hanson’s improvements were really distributed across the entire race. That aligns with his general rise in quality in 2025 across a number of races. After a few years of stagnating best times, in 2025 so far he has set lifetime bests in the 50 free and 100 free in short course meters (also last weekend), plus the 100 and 200 free in long course meters (48.90/1:45.91).

His previous long course bests in the 100 and 200 free were both from 2021.

Hanson also won the 50 free (21.80), the 100 free (47.03), and the 100 IM (53.90) at the meet. He finished 3rd in the 400 free in 3:46.61, the only event where he didn’t go a best time.

His was one of two National Records set at the meet, with the other being considerably older. Thilda Hall broke the women’s 1500 meter freestyle record in 16:06.45.

The old record of 16:14.77 was set in 2000 by Olympian Asa Sandlund when she swam for the USC Trojans at the rare short course meters NCAA Championship meet. Sandlund moved to live with a host family in California in 1999 and train with the famed distance coach Bill Rose at the Mission Viejo Nadadores. Sandlund finished 3rd at NCAAs that year.

As for the 20-year-old Hall, that swim cleared her own best time of 16:15.68 done in 2022. This follows a big summer of improvements in the long course pool that saw her drop more than 8 seconds in the 800 free as well.

Splits Comparison:

The women’s 1500 free, relative to other events, is not swum as much in short course meters, which is part of why the old record stood for so long. But that was one of three lifetime bests for Hall at the meet, along with a 4:06.27 in the 400 free and an 8:25.85 in the 800 free.

Other Meet Highlights

• Olympians Victor Johansson of Sweden and Henrik Christiansen of Norway battled in the men’s 1500 free, with Johansson winning in 14:42.97 and Christiansen finishing 2nd in 14:45.81. Johansson also won the 800 free in 7:42.48, while Djakovic came out on top of the 400 in 3:42.12.
• 22-year-old Sofia Astedt, Hall’s training partner at Elfsborg, won the 200 free in 1:55.73. That took eight-tenths off her best time from a year ago.
• Olympian Sophie Hansson and her sister Louise Hansson combined for seven wins. Sophie, the younger, won the 50 breaststroke (30.15) and 100 breaststroke (1:05.60), while Louise, the elder, won the 50 back (26.74), 100 back (57.30), 50 fly (25.46), 100 fly (56.26), and 100 IM (59.14).