SARAH SJÖSTRÖM

NATIONALITY Swedish
HOMETOWN Stockholm
DATE OF BIRTH 17/08/1993
DISCIPLINE Freestyle and Butterfly
CLUB/COLLEGE Energy Standard
COACH Johan Wallberg / Antonio Lutula
FOLLOW SARAH ON
“The older you get, the better you get. Unless you’re a banana”

BIOGRAPHY

Sarah Sjöström became Sweden’s first female Olympic swimming champion at Rio 2016 in the 100m butterfly.

Emotion overflowed and her brother Linus – then aged nine - noted: “black tears came from your eyes.”

Linus has autism. In late 2016 they stood together as Sarah was honored at the Swedish Sports Gala.

Sarah told the Expressen paper in Sweden: “Yes, it was because I was wearing mascara. [Linus] stood on the stage in a packed Globen and gave a speech for me. It was the best prize I have ever received.”

In summer 2017 Sarah broke four world records in two weeks and with eight world records held in long and short-course events simultaneously, she had more global standards than any other swimmer.

Sarah took up swimming aged 10 and was European 100m butterfly champion within four years.

In February 2021 she broke her elbow in a slip on ice only to return and claim 50m freestyle silver at the Tokyo Olympics.

She said: “This is one of my biggest achievements in my career. I’ve won a lot of medals and broken a lot of world records, but this has been the toughest challenge so far.”

By the close of 2021, she had become a sporting superstar in Sweden with 41 Olympic, world and European titles and holds four world records in the 50m and 100m freestyle and butterfly.

In January 2022, she announced her engagement to Swedish fencer Johan de Jong Skierus.

GENERAL QUICK FACTS

Favorite sportsperson or team (other than swimming)
Tennis player Serena Williams
Favorite vacation spot and why
Cape Town and Stellenbosch in South Africa. Good food and wine, beautiful environment, and fun adventures
Public person you admire
Entrepreneur Elon Musk
Favorite book(s)/author(s)
All books by Sophie Kinsella and Sofie Sarenbrant
Items you’d want on a desert island
My phone, a yacht with crew included, and an arena bikini
If you could be any character in fiction, who would you be?
Pippi Longstocking
If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
My superpower would be to be able to transform into anything I want
If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be?
‘Impossible Until Done’
What you’d like to do in your life after swimming
Sports and events project management

SWIMMING QUICK FACTS

Proudest moment in swimming
Winning Olympic gold in the 100 butterfly in 2016, but maybe even more than that being able to come back like I did after my injury in 2021
Least favorite part of swimming
Sessions over 4000m
Funniest moment in swimming
Racing skins at the ISL
Favorite/least favorite training set and why
My least favourite are 20-30x100 thresholds. I swim with bad technique and I feel bad for a month after a session like that. My favorite training set is 6-8x (300 easy free/bk with 1min rest + 50 pace/max 1 min rest). It’s a hard session but I’m often able to maintain a good quality all the way
Favorite Race/Training suits and why
arena Carbon Core FX because it’s comfortable
Best piece of equipment and why
Snorkel, because I love breathing
Favorite Food after training
A big cheese sandwich
Favorite Pool in the world and why
My favorite pool for racing in is the Foro Italico in Rome. I love the surroundings and I have good memories of there. I love swimming outdoors and I almost never do that at home. My favorite training pool in the world is at the training center in Belek, Turkey where I used to spend a lot of time before the pandemic

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

2022 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, ROME
GOLD 50m Freestyle
GOLD 50m Butterfly
GOLD 4x100m Medley Relay
SILVER 4x100m Freestyle
BRONZE 4x100m Mixed Freestyle Relay
2022 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BUDAPEST
GOLD 50m Freestyle
GOLD 50m Butterfly
SILVER 100m Freestyle
2021 WORLD SHORT-COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS, ABU DHABI
GOLD 50m Freestyle
GOLD 4x100m Freestyle Relay
GOLD 4x50m Medley Relay
SILVER 100m Freestyle
SILVER 50m Butterfly
SILVER 4x50m Freestyle Relay
BRONZE 4x100m Freestyle Relay
2021 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS, KAZAN
GOLD 50m Freestyle
GOLD 100m Freestyle
GOLD 50m Butterfly
GOLD 100m Butterfly
SILVER 4x50m Medley Relay
BRONZE 100m Individual Medley
2020 OLYMPIC GAMES, TOKYO
SILVER 50m Freestyle
2019 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, GWANGJU
GOLD 50m Butterfly
SILVER 100m Butterfly
SILVER 50m Freestyle
BRONZE 100m Freestyle
BRONZE 200m Freestyle
2018 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, GLASGOW
GOLD 50m Freestyle
GOLD 100m Freestyle
GOLD 50m Butterfly
GOLD 100m Butterfly
2017 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BUDAPEST
GOLD 50m Freestyle
GOLD 50m Butterfly
GOLD 100m Butterfly
SILVER 100m Freestyle
2017 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS, COPENHAGEN
GOLD 50m Freestyle
GOLD 100m Butterfly
GOLD 4x50m Medley Relay
SILVER 100m Freestyle
SILVER 100m Individual Medley
SILVER 4x50m Freestyle Relay
2016 OLYMPIC GAMES, RIO DE JANEIRO
GOLD 100m Butterfly
SILVER 200m Freestyle
BRONZE 100m Freestyle
2016 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, LONDON
GOLD 50m Butterfly
GOLD 100m Butterfly
GOLD 100m Freestyle
BRONZE 4x100m Freestyle Relay
2015 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, KAZAN
GOLD 50m Butterfly
GOLD 100m Butterfly
SILVER 100m Freestyle
SILVER 4x100m Medley Relay
BRONZE 50m Freestyle
2015 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS, NETANYA
GOLD 50m Butterfly
GOLD 100m Butterfly
GOLD 100m Freestyle
SILVER 50m Freestyle
SILVER 4x50m Medley Relay
2014 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, BERLIN
GOLD 50m Butterfly
GOLD 100m Freestyle
GOLD 4x100m Freestyle Relay
SILVER 50m Freestyle
SILVER 100m Butterfly
SILVER 4x200m Freestyle Relay
SILVER 4x100m Medley Relay
2014 WORLD SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS, DOHA
GOLD 50m Butterfly
GOLD 100m Butterfly
GOLD 200m Freestyle
SILVER 100m Freestyle
2013 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BARCELONA
GOLD 100m Butterfly
SILVER 100m Freestyle
2013 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS, HERNING
GOLD 50m Butterfly
GOLD 100m Butterfly
SILVER 50m Freestyle
SILVER 100m Freestyle
SILVER 4x50m Freestyle Relay
BRONZE 4x50m Medley Relay
2012 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, DEBRECEN
GOLD 50m Butterfly
GOLD 100m Freestyle
SILVER 4x100m Freestyle
2010 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, BUDAPEST
GOLD 100m Butterfly
SILVER 4x100m Medley Relay
BRONZE 4x100m Freestyle Relay
2009 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, ROME
GOLD 100m Butterfly
2009 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS, ISTANBUL
SILVER 4x50m Freestyle Relay
SILVER 4x50m Medley Relay
2008 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, EINDHOVEN
GOLD 100m Butterfly
BRONZE 4x100m Freestyle Relay
2008 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS, RIJEKA
SILVER 4x50m Freestyle Relay

INSIDE SARAH’S BAG

Swedix Mirror
Powerskin Carbon Core Fx
Titan 3 Super Fly Back
Swim Snorkel Pro III
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