Six National Records Go Down on Final Day of 2021 Stockholm Open

2021 SWIM OPEN STOCKHOLM

• April 8-11, 2021
• Eriksdalsbadet, Stockholm, Sweden
• LCM Format (50m)
• Start Times (Local Time): Heats: 9:30 AM, B/C Finals: 4:30 PM, A Finals: 6 PM
• FINA Olympic Qualifying Standards
• Meet Site
• Live Results
• Live Stream (Available for €4.99/Session)
• Day 1 Recap
• Day 2 Recap
• Day 3 Recap

The last day of the 2021 Swim Open Stockholm was filled with national records and top-25 world rankings galore. After the session, six new national records and eight FINA Olympic A cuts were achieved. Among the Sunday night record-breakers was 24-year-old Austrian Felix Auboeck in the men’s 800 free timed final, swimming a lifetime best of 7:46.72 to rank No. 3 in the world this season.

The Michigan alum’s time was also good enough to break his second national record after re-writing the 200 free national record of 1:45.70. Auboeck’s swim also dipped under the FINA Olympic A cut of 7:54.31, adding another event to his Olympic schedule. Denmark’s Anton Ipsen placed second at 7:54.82, just missing the automatic qualifying standard. Ipsen sits at No. 11 in the world at 7:52.26.

It was an electric race in the women’s 100 breast final, with the top three finishers separated by six one-hundredths. Earlier in the morning preliminaries, Swede Sophie Hansson of NC State pulled out of 1:06.17 to break the national record and rank No. 6 in the world this season. In the final, however, it was Eneli Jefimova who broke her third Estonian breaststroke national record at 1:06.82, holding off Hansson’s 1:06.84. Finishing four one-hundredths behind for third was Ida Hulkko, who broke the Finnish national record at 1:06.88. That’s three national records broken in the women’s 100 breast, with all three swimmers hitting the Olympic A cut of 1:07.07, confirming their spots in Tokyo.

Jefimova and Hulkko currently rank No. 11 and No. 14 respectively on the world rankings for the 2020-2021 season. Taking fourth in the final was Israeli teen Anastasia Gorbenko at 1:08.39. Yesterday, Gorbenko broke the Israeli record in the 200 back at 2:10.86.

USC alum Louise Hansson of Sweden touched out women’s 100 free morning prelims leader Israeli Andi Murez 54.27 to 54.28 to win the final. During prelims, Murez broke another national record at 54.19. Murez has now qualified for the Tokyo Olympics after swimming under the 54.38 Olympic A cut. The pair also rank No. 23 and No. 25 respectively in the world this season.

In the women’s 400 free relay, Denmark’s Emily Gantriis (55.43)anchored the relay four-tenths faster than Swedish anchor Alma Thormalm (55.95) to win the event in a time of 3:40.91 to Sweden’s 3:41.47. Taking a tight third place finish was the Israeli relay at 3:14.61, with Anastasia Gorbenko (54.38), Daria Golovaty (56.11), Lea Polonsky (56.94), and Andi Murez (53.70) combining for a second relay national record. On the men’s side, Sweden defeated Israel 3:19.13 to 3:20.28, featuring Swedish anchor Isak Eliasson‘s 49.25 split.

More Day Four Highlights:

• Greek Kristian Gkolomeev broke 22 seconds to win the men’s 50 free at 21.96, beating the 22.01 Olympic A cut and now ranking No. 11 in the world. Placing second was Finnish Ari-Pekka Liukkonen, who ranks No. 23 in the world at 22.12, shaving 0.03s off his season best from this past September.
• Another Greekman, NC State alum Andreas Vazaios, won an event in Stockholm on Sunday, hitting 1:58.47 to win the 200 IM final. Israeli Yakov Toumarkin hit 1:59.46 to place second behind Vazaios. Both swimmers ducked under the 1:59.67 FINA A cut and rank No. 11 and No. 22 in the world this season.
• Iron Lady Katinka Hosszu took another win in Stockholm with her top 200 fly time of 2:09.72, holding off Denmark’s Helena Rosendahl Bach (2:09.87). Hosszu currently ranks No. 10 in the world at 2:08.45 from the 2021 Hungarian Spring Nationals while Bach moves up to No. 21 in the world.
• Danish Tobias Bjerg won the men’s 50 breast final at 27.29 to rank No. 12 in the world this season. Swede Johannes Skagius placed second at 27.58 to just crack the top-25 times in the world.
• Liechtenstein’s Julia Hassler won the women’s 800 free at  8:33.75, just edging out Austria’s Marlene Kahler (8:34.19). Both women were just off the Olympic A cut of 8:33.36.

Day Four National Record Round-Up

• Women’s 100 Free: Israeli record, Andi Murez (54.19)
• Men’s 800 Free: Austrian record, Felix Auboeck (7:46.72)
• Women’s 100 Breast: Swedish record, Sophie Hansson (1:06.17)
• Women’s 100 Breast: Estonian record, Eneli Jefimova (1:06.82)
• Women’s 100 Breast: Finnish record, Ida Hulkko (1:06.88)
• Women’s 400 Free Relay: Israeli record, Gorbenko, Golovaty, Polonsky, Murez (3:41.61)