World Champion Steenbergen Rips 52.77 100 Free At 2025 AP Race International

2025 AP RACE INTERNATIONAL

• Saturday, May 24th – Monday, May 26th
• London Aquatics Centre
• LCM (50m)
• SwimSwam Preview
• Meet Central
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
• Entries/Results

The 2025 AP Race International concluded last night from the London Aquatics Centre with a plethora of talent on display stemming from the host nation, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and beyond. The competition was an opportunity to get some quality racing in ahead of this summer’s World Championships which are set for Singapore in July.

The German distance men were in the water again as a follow-up to their stellar 400m free performances on day 2.

This time around, 27-year-old Olympic medalist Florian Wellbrock got to the wall first, registering a winning effort of 7:45.63.

That beat his countryman Oliver Klemet by about 3 seconds, with Klemet snagging silver in 7:48.61 followed by Czech swimmer Ondrej Gemov who rounded out the podium well behind in 7:59.92.

Wellbrock has already been as fast as 7:41.10 this season, a time he established at the Swim Open Stockholm last month to rank 3rd in the world behind newly-minted European record holder Sven Schwarz (7:38.12) and fellow German Lukas Märtens‘ time of 7:39.10.

25-year-old Marrit Steenbergen of the Netherlands put her speed on display while winning the women’s 100m freestyle.

The world champion and Dutch national record holder stopped the clock at a swift 52.77, splitting 25.66/27.11 to turn in the 5th-best time of her impressive career.

She nabbed the victory ahead of British World Championships qualifier Eva Okaro who settled for silver nearly 2 seconds behind in 54.66 followed by Denmark’s Martine Damborg who earned bronze in 54.98.

Steenbergen owns the Dutch standard with her lifetime best of 52.26 notched for gold last year in Doha.

Marrit Steenbergen‘s Top 5 LCM 100 Freestyle Performances

1. 52.26, 2024
2. 52.53, 2024
3. 52.71, 2023
4. 52.72, 2024
5. 52.77, 2025

The Dutch ace now ranks #1 in the world this season, dethroning American Gretchen Walsh.

Following up on her 1:05.81 new 100m breast national record, 18-year-old Eneli Jefimova put up another powerful performance to top the women’s 50m breaststroke podium.

The teen unleashed a time of 30.02, an outing just .19 outside the Estonian standard of 29.83 she registered at the Helsinki Swim Meet last month.

Belgium’s Florine Gaspard produced 30.72 as the silver medalist while 16-year-old Jasmine Carter of the host nation logged 31.42 for bronze.

Also nearing a national record was Roos Vanotterdijk in the women’s 100m butterfly.

The 20-year-old Belgian put up a time of 57.46 to reap gold, a time within .41 of the 57.05 benchmark she turned in at last month’s Swim Open Stockholm.

Vanotterdijk’s performance here held off British national champion Keanna MacInnes who was also sub-58 in 57.96 followed by Japanese 50m fly winner Rikako Ikee who touched in 58.6.

Finally, the men’s 200m free field contained all four members of the British men’s 4x200m free relay back-to-back gold medalists Duncan Scott, James Guy, Matthew Richards and Tom Dean.

Doubling up on his 200m IM victory, Scott stopped the clock at 1:46.15 to lead the pack with Germany’s Lukas Märtens posting 1:46.34 as the runner-up.

British Olympian Jack McMillan rounded out the podium in 1:46.40 but Guy and Richards were also under the 1:47 threshold. The former hit 1:46.73 for 4th place while the latter earned 5th place honors in 1:46.81.

Klemet was 6th, ahead of Dean who put up 1:48.05.

Märtens already ranks #1 in the world as a result of his 1:44.25 logged at the German Championships earlier this month. Guy and Scott remarkably tied for first place at the Aquatics GB Championships, both hitting 1:45.08 to share the 4th slot in the season’s world rankings.

Richards already qualified for the World Championships in the 200m free, courtesy of his Olympic silver medal; therefore, we’re still awaiting word to find out whether it will be Guy or Scott joining him in the individual event in Singapore.

Additional Notes

• Germany’s Olympic bronze medalist Isabel Gose registered a time of 8:25.43 to win the women’s 800m free ahead of Olympic open water silver medalist Moesha Johnson. Johnson touched in 8:26.32 and American Lily Gormsen took the bronze in 8:50.78.
• 22-year-old Honey Osrin put up a time of 2:09.28 to take the women’s 200m backstroke, beating the 2:10.60 she produced for 3rd place at the Aquatics GB Championships. Versatile Katie Shanahan was also sub-2:10 in the race, posting 2:09.97 as Holly McGill landed on the podium in 2:10.59, good enough for bronze.
• Shanahan collected another medal on the evening, bagging bronze in the 200m IM. She was 2:14.30 behind winner Abbie Wood who notched 2:09.62 with Freya Colbert in the silver position in 2:11.79.
• British national record holder Oliver Morgan led the men’s 100m backstroke race, touching in 53.32. Czech swimmer Miroslav Knedla secured silver in 53.74 and Jack Skerry of GBR turned in 54.24 for bronze. Birmingham’s Morgan ranks #2 in the world on the season, with his 52.12 national record from last month sitting only behind Russian Kliment Kolesnikov‘s season-best of 52.04.
• Dutch Olympic medalist punched a result of 2:08.21 to win the men’s 200m breaststroke by over 2 seconds. British 17-year-old Filip Nowacki nabbed silver in 2:10.53 and Austrian Luka Mladenovic earned bronze in 2:11.79. Corbeau’s time consisted of splits of 1:01.32/1:06.89 to come within .31 of the 2:07.90 he produced for bronze in Paris last year. Nowacki’s effort checked in as a huge new British Age Record for 17-year-old boys, dipping under the 2:11.09 he turned in for silver at the Aquatics GB Championships. The teen is now the 10th-swiftest British men’s 200m breaststroke performer in history.