In Change of Plans, World Record Holder Sarah Sjostrom Enters 100 Free at Paris Olympics

By Riley Overend on SwimSwam

2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

Pool Swimming: July 27 – August 4, 2024

Open Water Swimming: August 8 – 9, 2024

La Défense Arena — Paris, France
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Olympic Swimming Entries as of July 12th

Sarah Sjostrom just can’t stay away from the 100 freestyle.

After saying back in February that she would not be swimming the 100 free at the Paris Olympics, the 30-year-old Swedish sprint star appears to have changed her mind as she’s seeded 3rd on the initial entry list released Friday.

Sjostrom did not contest the 100 free individually at the 2023 World Championships, but she led off Sweden’s 4×100 free relay with a time of 52.24 that would have won silver behind Mollie O’Callaghan (52.16). She skipped the 100 free again at the 2024 World Championships, telling Swedish media that she “wanted to go all in” on the 50 free because she felt her door in the 100 free had closed.

Sjostrom’s performance at the Sette Colli Trophy last month may have made her reconsider her Olympic lineup. At the annual meet held in Rome, Italy, she clocked a 52.57 to beat Hong Kong standout Siobhan Haughey (52.78) and take down her meet record from last year (52.64) along the way. Sjostrom ranks 6th in the world this season behind Kate Douglass (52.56), Meg Harris (52.52), O’Callaghan (52.27), Marrit Steenbergen (52.26), and Haughey (52.02). Douglass and Harris are not swimming the 100 free individually in Paris, making Sjostrom a serious threat to disrupt podium favorites Haughey, Steenbergen, and O’Callaghan.

Just because Sjostron is signed up for the 100 free doesn’t necessarily mean she will swim the event in Paris. She was entered in the 100 free at the 2024 World Championships before dropping out and saying, “It is easier to sign up first and regret it later.”

Sjostrom made the podium at all five World Championships between 2013-22, picking up silver medals in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2022 while also adding a bronze in 2019. She missed the podium by just .16 seconds at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 on her way to a 5th-place finish in 52.68.

At the Rio Olympics back in 2016, Sjostrom snagged bronze behind Simone Manuel and Penny Oleksiak‘s tie for gold. At the 2017 World Championships, she earned a runner-up finish in 52.31 behind Manuel (52.27) before going on to break the world record leading off Sweden’s 4×100 free relay in 51.71 — which still stands to this day.

Sjostrom is the heavy favorite in the 50 free as the top performer in the world this season at 23.69. Only three other women have broken 24 seconds in the event this season: Douglass (23.91), Kasia Wasick (23.95), and Shayna Jack (23.99).

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