Sjostrom Puts Up 53.55 100 Free, Kamminga Posts 2:09 200 Breast At Mediterranean Open

11TH MEDITERRANEAN OPEN (FRA)

Swedish Olympic champion Sarah Sjostrom was back in the water tonight at the Mediterranean Open in France.

After taking the women’s 50m fly last night in a world-leading result of 25.25, Sjostrom raced the women’s 100m freestyle event where she also topped the podium.

Sjostrom got to the wall in a swift mark of 53.55 to lead a trio of sub-54 second swimmers. Behind the Swede was Dutch ace Marrit Steenbergen who produced a time of 53.84 for silver while domestic simmer Beryl Gastaldello rounded out the top 3 in 53.86.

Steenbergen was actually out slightly ahead of Sjostrom, with the former opening in 26.13 to the latter’s 26.26. But Sjostrom gained ground to close in 27.29 and seal the deal for gold. Of note, French athlete Marie Wattel was disqualified in the race.

After dropping out of the Luxembourg Euro Meet due to back pains, this meet marks Sjostrom’s first competition of 2023. And, just like that, the veteran enters the world rankings in the women’s 100m free in slot #4, tying Australia’s Emma McKeon.

2022-2023 LCM Women 100 Free

2Sarah
Sjostrom
SWE52.2407/23
3Shayna
Jack
AUS52.2807/23
4Siobhan
Haughey
HGK52.4907/28
5Emma
McKeon
AUS52.5206/17
View Top 26»

The men’s 50m freestyle event was conducted across 4 rounds with Dutch sprinter Kenzo Simons winding up with the gold when all was said and done.

The 21-year-old finished 2nd in the first round, hitting a time of 22.35 to Hungary’s Szebasztian Szabo‘s 22.19 but took control from that point forward. Simons kept getting faster, punching results of 22.03, 21.97 and finally a time of 21.87.

His results this evening represent his first outings ever under the 22-second barrier in the event. Entering this meet, Simons’ personal best rested at the 22.02 logged at the 2020 Rotterdam Qualification Meet.

Kenzo now ranks as the 3rd fastest man ever from the Netherlands.

Top 5 Dutch Performers All-Time in LCM 50 Free

  1. Thom de Boer, 21.58 2021
  2. Jesse Puts, 21.82 2016
  3. Kenzo Simons, 21.87 2023
  4. Nyls Korstanje, 21.98 2020
  5. Pieter Van den Hoogenband, 22.03 2000

Simons now ties American Michael Andrew as the top swimmer in the world right now.

2022-2023 LCM Men 50 Free

2Ryan
Held
USA21.5007/01
3Florent
Manaudou
FRA21.5606/15
4Jack
Alexy
USA21.5707/29
5Benjamin
Proud
GBR21.5807/29
View Top 26»

Also in the medal mix on the evening was two-time Olympic silver medalist Arno Kammiga of the Netherlands.

27-year-old Kamminga was the decisive winner of tonight’s 200m breaststroke, delivering a speedy in-season result of 2:09.47. Kamminga opened in 1:01.82 and closed in 1:07.65 to continue his rebound from a rocky 2022 which was plagued with illness.

Kamminga now ranks 5th in the world this season.

2022-2023 LCM Men 200 Breast

Qin CHN
Haiyang
07/28
WR 2:05.48
2Zac
Stubblety-Cook
AUS2:06.4007/28
3Leon
Marchand
FRA2:06.5906/11
4Kirill
Prigoda
RUS2:07.4704/19
5 IPPEI
WATANABE
JPN2:07.5506/03
View Top 26»

Additional Winners

  • Greek swimmer Apostolos Christou topped the men’s 100m back podium in a time of 53.72.
  • The women’s 50m back saw Analia Pigree succeed through the rounds, ultimately claiming gold in a final round time of 27.65.
  • The men’s 800m free was taken by Logan Fontaine of the host nation, clocking 7:52.75, just off his personal best of 7:52.31 from last year’s French Championships.
  • Lilou Ressencourt was tonight’s 200m fly victor for the women, touching in 2:10.74.

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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.

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