Sweden’s Therese Alshammar Was a Speed Maven
The Missed Turn is a series developed by Swimming World that pays respect to an athlete whose career may not have been as appreciated as it deserved. In this edition, we look at the efforts of Therese Alshammar, a Swedish star who was defined by her sprint excellence and consistency.
On six occasions, Therese Alshammar located her room inside the Olympic Village. It was a routine she first realized as an 18-year-old at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, and last experienced at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. Along the way, the Swedish standout earned three medals in Olympic competition, all collected at the 2000 Games in Sydney.
During the early stages of her career, Alshammar seemed destined for excellence in the 100 backstroke. It was an event that earned her national-level recognition in Sweden and enabled Alshammar to make her Olympic debut in Atlanta. But over time—and in part, thanks to a collegiate stop at the University of Nebraska—Alshammar’s focus shifted to the freestyle and butterfly, particularly the sprint distances of those events.
Throughout her career, Alshammar made it a habit of collecting fistfuls of medals from international competition. In total, she claimed 71 medals between her trips to the Olympics, World Championships (long course/short course) and the European Championships (long course/short course). The majority of these medals arrived in the 50 freestyle and 50 butterfly, disciplines that perfectly fit Alshammar’s pure speed.
At the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Alshammar used her sprint skill to win a trio of medals. Silver-medal finishes behind Dutchwoman Inge de Bruijn in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle were complemented by a bronze medal as part of Sweden’s 400 freestyle relay. The next year, she was the silver medalist to her Dutch foe in the 50 freestyle and 50 butterfly at the World Championships in Fukuoka.
On eight occasions at the World Championships (LC), Alshammar stood on a podium for her efforts in either the 50 free or 50 butterfly. Impressively, this hardware was captured over a 10-year stretch (2001-11), an accomplishment that speaks to her longevity on the global stage. More, Alshammar was a 17-time medalist at the World Short Course Championships over a 13-year span (1997-2010), with 10 of those medals golden.
At the 2011 World Championships (LC) in Shanghai, Alshammar topped the field in the 50 freestyle behind a time of 24.14. The performance made Alshammar, at 33 years old, the oldest women’s world champion in history.
Although Sydney marked the only Games in which Alshammar reached the podium, she finished fourth in the 50 freestyle at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and was the sixth-place finisher in the 50 freestyle at the 2012 Games in London. Her career also featured short-course world records in the 50 free, 100 free and 50 butterfly and a long-course world record in the 50 fly.
Alshammar remains the short-course world record holder in the 50 fly, her time of 24.38 from the World Cup in Singapore in November 2009 having endured for more than 14 years. Additionally, her former world record of 25.07 in the long-course version of the 50 butterfly ranks Alshammar among the top-five performers in history.
“No one’s journey is the same, and you have to find and trust your own way,” Alshammar once said. “In my career, I changed my focus from outer motivation to inner motivation. I gave myself intrinsic goals and focused on what would make me happy each day instead of only fixating on the end goal. You have to enjoy the good and the bad. Don’t compare yourself to other athletes, and enjoy your journey.”
You forgot to mention that her husband has been the Swedish coach for Sarah S for more than 10 years. So he was architect of one sprint fly/free phenom to another….both from same small country!