Sarah Sjostrom Takes SC Euros 50 Fly Record at 24.50

2021 LEN European Short Course Championships

• Tuesday, November 2nd – Sunday, November 7th
• Aquatics Palace, Kazan Russia
• SCM (25m)
• Prelims recap
• Results

Four-time Olympic medalist Sarah Sjostrom broke the meet record in the 50 fly during the 2021 LEN European Short Course Championships, with her time of 24.50.

Sjostrom broke the record previously set by France’s Melanie Henique back in 2019, when she swam the event in 24.56. Sjostrom also swam a lifetime best in the event, which she hadn’t done since 2017, when she swam 24.52 at the Berlin FINA World Cup stop.

Her time is the fifth-fastest performance in the event ever, and she’s now the third-fastest performer behind Therese Alshammar and Ranomi Kromowidjojo.

Sjostrom’s swim also earned her the gold in the event, ahead of the Netherlands’ Maaike De Waard, who also clocked in under 25 seconds. 

Alshammar still owns the SCM 50 fly national record for Sweden, which also happens to be the world record at 24.38. If Sjostrom can drop below that time at some point in the future, she’ll have two out of the three world records and Swedish national records in the short course fly events, as she does in long course. She currently has the Swedish national record and world record in the SCM 100 fly at 54.61.

Sjostrom’s win in the 50 fly comes on the last day of a meet that has yielded numerous gold medals for the swimmer. She also won gold in the 100 fly, 50 free, and 100 free as well as bronze in the 100 IM. 

This is also Sjostrom’s second time this meet breaking a meet record in a 50. Earlier in the competition, she broke the SC Euros record in the 50 free with her time of 23.12, which also happened to be the fourth-fastest swim ever.