Swedish superstar Sarah Sjostrom continues to make her a contender for multiple hardware this summer. This weekend Sjostrom is in Eindhoven, Netherlands and gets a chance to go head to head against the powerhouse Dutch women in the sprints. She posted the top time in the semifinals of the 100 free with a scorching 53.29. That time betters the previous top mark of Ranomi Kromowidjojo of 53.30 from Amsterdam last month. It also betters her own season best of 53.66 from a Swedish Grand Prix meet in March.
Three of the four Dutch ladies who claimed gold in the 400 free relay in Beijing took the second through fourth spots. Kromowidjojo also broke 54 seconds with a 53.60. That is the fourth fastest swim on the year but falls short of her own personal best and second overall time of 53.30. The third seed is Marleen Veldhuis who touched in 54.15 to move up to 17th this year. The 32 year old continues to impress after giving birth a daughter in 2010. In fourth is Inge Dekker at 54.50 and sits just outside the top 25. All three ladies should be strong contenders for the Dutch 400 free relay in London and the official announcement is expected following this meet.
On the men’s side it was Sebastiaan Verschuren who led semifinals with a top time of 49.15. Verschuren, who started his career as a distance swimmer and who has made steady improvements to his sprinting in recent years, was well off his personal best of 48.27 from last year’s world championships. Stefan Nystrand of Sweden is second in 49.97 while Emmanuel Vanluchene touched in 49.97 for third as the top three were the only ones under 50 seconds.
It was Sweden’s Jennie Johansson who topped the sprint breaststroke with a winning time of 31.52 to just outtouch second place Moniek Nijhuis’s 31.57. Both ladies have already been faster this year with Johansson posting a second ranked 31.24 in March while Nijhuis went 31.49 in Antwerp in January.
Brazilian Joao Gomez took the men’s 50 breaststroke in 27.82 to move into a tie for fifth in the world this year. He would be the only man to clear 28 second in the final as second place finisher Lennart Stekelenburg touched in 28.01. That time puts him in a tie with Damir Dugonjic for 15th in the world this year. Third went to Bram Dekker in 28.06 to tie for 16th in the world.
Wendy van der Zanden just snuck into the top 25 in the world with a 25th ranked 2:13.14 to win the 200 IM. That time ties Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu. It was Sebas van Lith who took the men’s 200 IM in 2:02.64.
In the 400 free wins went to Julia Hassler (4:14.03) and Great Britain’s David Carry (3:50.52). Carry has been much faster this year with his 3:48.36 from the British Nationals where he finished second.