She’s Back: Cate Campbell Eclipses Sjostrom’s 100 SC Free World Record

2017 AUSTRALIAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS

It’s just the first day of the 2017 Australian Short Course Championships and already one record went down and it was big! Commercial swimmer Cate Campbell managed to break the World Record in the women’s 100 freestyle short course meters to take the Aussie national title in a monster time of 50.25 and eclipse the previous mark held by one of the world’s most dominant sprinters in recent history, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom.

Entering this week’s meet in Adelaide, C1’s (as she is widely known to differentiate herself from C2, sister Bronte) personal best in the short course 100 free sat at a solid 50.91 from 2016.

With most racing thereafter taking place in long course meters gearing up for Rio, C1’s most recent crack at the short course version of her specialty race came at this year’s World Cup. The 25-year-old notched swift marks of 51.59 in Moscow and 51.75 in Eindhoven this past August at the respective stops.

Tonight, however, C1 took things to an entirely new level to dip under the 51-second threshold for just the 2nd time of her prolific career. Comparing her splits tonight to Sjostrom’s from this past August, it’s evident C1 blasted the first half of the race a significant .28 faster than the Sweden, still giving the Aussie the edge closing only .05 faster.

Sjostrom: 24.49/26.09 = 50.58 Previous WR
C. Campbell 24.21/26.04 = 50.25 NEW WR

C1 opted out of swimming at the 2017 World Championships after a rocky outing in Rio where the then-100 LCM freestyle world record holder wound up off the podium in both of her individual events despite being favored. Campbell has turned her back on thoughts of retirement and is instead revitalized and refocused on her journey to the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

In This Story

29
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

29 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Swimmer
6 years ago

Cannot wait for a woman to go 49! Who’s going to be first??

Dee
Reply to  Swimmer
6 years ago

Smart money will be on SS or CC. But, we know in our sport people can come from nowhere at the age of 15/16 to do incredible things; So it may yet be someone we’re yet to hear of.

Marley09
Reply to  Swimmer
6 years ago

Some kid who’s eating lunch in her elementary school cafateria right now.

Sandy
Reply to  Swimmer
6 years ago

This could just be the motivation for SS to go faster in the next WC cluster – sub 50 maybe

Philip
6 years ago

Omg

Alex
6 years ago

WOW! Congratulations!

12beatkick
6 years ago

Wow girls are getting closer and closer to 49. In a 100 free… Scary stuff

Pvdh
6 years ago

I wouldn’t say she’s back. We know she has the capability to smash these times without the pressure. And Comm games aren’t exactly pressure packed. If she can beat Manuel at PP, then I’d consider her “back”

A non-e mouse
Reply to  Pvdh
6 years ago

I dunno, breaking a world record of any sort is always impressive. She certainly is back in competition at any rate

commonwombat
Reply to  Pvdh
6 years ago

Yes, World Records SHOULD be celebrated and acknowledged as the outstanding swims that they undoubtedly are.

However, once the dust has settled; those often overlooked but very valid “qualifiers” do need to be asked; particularly when the time is swum outside “peak competition”/major international meets. Namely “when was it swum, where was it swum and against who ?”

She cannot really be said to “be back” if she swims stupendous times in AUS in domestic competition an/or CG ….. but throws in another Rio meltdown at PP. I for one hope she DOES give us an emphatic “yes” answer but we really will not have a much clearer answer until next August.

A non-e mouse
Reply to  commonwombat
6 years ago

Eh I think you are reading too much into this. She was feeling good and swam fast. She may or may not repeat that in the future, but certainly right now it would be silly to say she can’t be said to be back. She just broke a world record, can’t really top that at this point of the year.

I for one think it’s silly to put “qualifiers” on a record setting swim. Is it the most impressive, awesome swim ever (or of her career)? Clearly not, but it certainly is a great return to form for a great swimmer.

commonwombat
Reply to  A non-e mouse
6 years ago

If you’d read a little closer, neither PDVH or myself were seeking to diminish C1s swim; but rather look at it in a wider context; especially with regards to claims “she’s back !”.

With regards to “qualifiers”, in reality these factors DO count in the wider scheme of things. You may swim the fastest time of the year but if you don’t bring that form (or something in that ballpark) to the big meet; its a somewhat hollow bragging point.

As to what more we may see from C1, I have no idea whether she WILL swim any of the remaining World Cup meets. As for LCM, she does mirror SS with regards to being fast “in season”. The… Read more »

Pvdh
Reply to  commonwombat
6 years ago

Also, es know C1 is a champion level swimmer. She’s a world champion the 100 freestyle. As great as WRs are, I’m 100% certain she would rather be a champion. We’ve seen her there before, she just has to find it again

crooked donald
Reply to  Pvdh
6 years ago

Manuel is one of those who will likely end up with the most big titles, but never set a world record. Cate, the opposite. It happens. Timing is everything.

Torchbearer
Reply to  crooked donald
6 years ago

Libby Trickett was frustratingly like that at the Olympics….entered many freestyle events as WR holder….and her only individual gold was in butterfly!

ALEXANDER POP-OFF
Reply to  Pvdh
6 years ago

I understand the reservations after Rio but as PVDH said, CC1 is a World Champion. And remember she won WC in 2013 in 52.34, a year after Kromo won London in 53 flat. Let’s give her a bit of credit.

crooked donald
Reply to  ALEXANDER POP-OFF
6 years ago

She deserves a lot of credit, but we’re now going on 4 years without a world title. In 2013, Oleksiak wasn’t even a teenager.

breaststroker
6 years ago

Sub 52 for C1 at comm games- you heard it here first

commonwombat
Reply to  breaststroker
6 years ago

Maybe, maybe not. Who knows what may transpire between then and now, health or otherwise. I will agree that this swim is a clear indicator that her capacity for the “OMG” swim/time is still there and therefore a sub52 is very plausible.

However, I’d frankly prefer that she produced such a time at PP’s where she will front against the Americans plus the Canadians “at peak” rather than CG. Why ?? It MAY help at least partially defuse the question of her delivering the performance under pressure; in other words, a win at CG but an “airswing” at PP would just add further fuel to the fire. Here’s hoping that she does/can give them the very best answer.

Shawn
Reply to  commonwombat
6 years ago

I agree. It was discussed on a recent thread about the Australians being great swimmers, but not showing up on the big stages. People have short memories, and unless it’s done on the international stage, nobody will remember these great swims. And this is just that, a great swim!

Torchbearer
Reply to  Shawn
6 years ago

It is a little bit more than a great swim..it is a World Record- the fastest in history.
But yes, it would be better at a big meet.

50free
6 years ago

I thought she held the previous record that Sjostrum broke. I believe she went 50.9 while going for a 100 split during the 200 free finals at the Aussie Nationals in 2015.

nlm78
Reply to  50free
6 years ago

Yeah she definitely broke it then. She came close to it at the 100m final that year and then Simon decided to throw her in the 200m, in which she broke the 100m WR and then came dead last in the 200m, which made it hilarious to watch. As she said, it’s not everyday you break a world record and come last in a race.

xyz
6 years ago

Can this event be watched on any platform?

Oceanian
Reply to  xyz
6 years ago
M just M
Reply to  xyz
6 years ago

I saw a replay on instagram … but I can’t seem to find it again. It was an amazing swim!

nlm78
Reply to  xyz
6 years ago

It’s on the Australian Dolphins Facebook Page. It’s around the 1hr 20 minute mark of the stream.

About Retta Race

Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having just earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

Read More »