Roos Vanotterdijk hit a trio of Belgian short course meters records at the Drachten qualification meet in the Netherlands this past weekend. The 19-year-old Olympian and reigning European champion swam national marks in the 50 freestyle, 50 backstroke, and 100 backstroke at her first SCM competition this season.
She broke Kimberly Buys’ record in both the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke. Buys held the former 50 freestyle record at 24.80 from the Eindhoven stop in the 2018 World Cup series. Vanotterdijk undercut that mark by three-hundredths, swimming a 24.77 and finishing fifth in the final. Vanotterdijk narrowly missed the record in prelims, swimming a lifetime best 24.82 before grabbing it in the final.
The 100 backstroke record had stood much longer; Buys held the record at 58.15 since the 2012 European Championships. Vanotterdijk lowered the mark twice. First, she dispatched Buys’ record with a 58.12 in prelims. Then, she fired off a 58.04 in the final, winning bronze.
Vanotterdijk came into this meet with a lifetime best of 58.56 from October 2022 and dropped .52 seconds from her best over the day. She was out much faster than her pace from 2022, opening her race in Drachten with a 27.99 compared to 28.35. She was able to come back faster as well, splitting 30.05 over the back half after splitting 30.21 in 2022.
Given the speed she showed on the opening split of her 100 backstroke, it’s unsurprising that the day before, she bettered the Belgian record in the 50 backstroke. The former standard in the event was her own—she set it at 27.27 at the October 2022 International Swim Festival.
She torched that mark this weekend, chopping .66 seconds off the record with a 26.61 during prelims. She couldn’t match that mark in the final but was still under her previous best with a 26.88, marking her second sub-27 performance.
