Sarah Sjostrom set a new world record of 51.71secs in the 100m freestyle as she became the first woman to swim inside 52 seconds and Gabriele Detti claimed bronze in the 400m freestyle as arena swimmers made waves at the World Championships in Budapest.
There was also a championship record of 57.75 for Adam Peaty in the 100m breaststroke semi-final with Katinka Hosszu serving notice that she means business in the 200m individual medley on Monday night in 2:07.14, the fastest in the world this year.
Sarah had already qualified fastest from the semi-finals of the 100m butterfly in 55.77 – just 0.01secs off her own world-leading time this year – before she swam the lead-off leg for the Swedish quartet in the women’s 4x100m relay.
Out in 24.83, the Swede left all her rivals in her slipstream, to touch in 51.71secs to beat the record of 52.06 set by Australia’s Cate Campbell last year.
It was an astonishing achievement, her time just 0.01secs shy of being a full second faster than the that in which Penny Oleksiak and Simone Manuel shared Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro last year.
Sarah had been threatening all season with Campbell predicting she would indeed eclipse her record.
The Swedish quartet eventually finished fifth but all eyes were on Sarah…
