STOCKHOLM, Sweden, March 8. IT was a truly speedy night for Swedish star Sarah Sjostrom at the Swedish Grand Prix in Stockholm this evening.
Sjostrom opened up the night by blitzing the women’s 200-meter freestyle field with a near Swedish record of 1:55.76. That swim came up just short of her 1:55.23 from March of 2012, and is the first 1:55 in the world this year. She skyrocketed past Emma McKeon’s previous top time of 1:56.23 from the NSW Championships in Sydney. Nadja Salomonsson touched almost 10 seconds behind with a 2:05.31, while Laura Lajunen wound up third in 2:05.45.
Sjostrom then blazed her way to another top-ranked time in the world by crushing the field in the women’s 100-meter fly. She dropped a 57.41 after going out in 27.42. That swim pushed her ahead of Madeline Groves’ previous top time of 57.43 from Australia, and easily overshadowed the 58.21 posted by Fran Halsall earlier in the day at the Mediterranean Open. Elise Naess Olsen of Norway took second in 1:00.95, while Agnes Wiiand placed third in 1:01.35.
Sjostrom then closed out a truly scintillating night of performances with a 24.87 to win the women’s 50-meter free. That swim jumped her to sixth in the world rankings this year. She has some time to make up to catch Cate Campbell’s 24.21 from Australia. Magdalena Kuras took second in 26.43 with Nadja Salomonsson in third in 26.46.
Mattias Carlsson clipped Christoffer Carlsen at the wall in the men’s 100-meter free, 51.07 to 51.17. Robin Andreasson wound up third in 51.64. Carlsson doubled up with a 57.02 to win the men’s 100-meter back. Petter Fredriksson clinched second in 57.62 with Fabian Bergman earning third in 57.99.
Estonia’s Filipp Provorkov topped the men’s 50-meter breaststroke in 28.30 with Finland’s William Wihanto taking second in 28.83. Gulliver Koch earned third in the sprint breast with a 29.12.
Joline Hostman followed with a 1:10.54 to win the women’s 100-meter breaststroke. Mari Louise Tran hit the wall second in 1:11.29, while Jessica Eriksson snagged third in 1:11.46. Patrik Lofgren clinched the men’s 400-meter IM title in 4:35.24. Jacob Jorgensen of Denmark took second in 4:42.21 with Jesper Svensson winding up third in 4:42.61.
Therese Svendsen won the women’s 50-meter backstroke with a 29.50, while Michelle Coleman placed second in 29.64. Magdalena Kuras rounded out the top three in 29.94. Simon Sjodin followed with a 2:00.33 to win the men’s 200-meter fly going away. Jesper Bjork took second in 2:04.11 with Denmark’s Rasmus Harstedt in third with a 2:08.23.
Jaqueline Hippi topped the women’s 200-meter IM with a 2:18.02, with Celine Bertrand hitting the wall second in 2:20.59. Finland’s Hilla Kortetjarvi snared third overall in 2:23.86. Norway’s Henrik Christiansen then won the men’s 400-meter free in 3:56.73 with Finland’s Eetu Piiroinen second in 3:57.32. Adam Paulsson completed the top three with a 3:58.63.
Erik Persson dominated the men’s 200-meter breaststroke finale with a 2:15.95, while Gulliver Koch took a distant second in 2:18.84. Norway’s Andreas Manum Hagby finished third in 2:23.45. Laura Lajunen won the women’s 1500-meter free in 17:06.92, while Erica Dahlgren placed second in 17:23.23. Alba Fores picked up third in 17:23.40.
Serbia’s Radovan Siljevksi stopped the clock in 24.58 to win the men’s 50-meter fly, while Jesper Jonsson took second in 24.78. Norway’s Sindri Jakobsson finished third in 25.31. Michelle Coleman closed out the night with a 2:14.37 in the women’s 200-meter back. Therese Svendsen (2:15.40) and Marlene Pavlu Lewin (2:20.36) rounded out the podium.
Results For: Swedish Grand Prix, Stockholm: Day One