World Aquatics Championship: Sjostrom sets World Record in 50m freestyle, clinches gold in 50m butterfly

Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom broke her own 50m freestyle world record at swimming’s world championships on Saturday, setting a new mark of 23.61sec.

Sjostrom’s previous record was 23.67, set at the world championships in Budapest in 2017. The 50m freestyle is scheduled to take place on Sunday.

The Swede was swimming in the semifinals of the event, less than half an hour after winning the 50m butterfly title for a fifth straight time. She touched the wall in 24.77sec to win ahead of China’s Zhang Yufei on 25.05 and American Gretchen Walsh on 25.46.

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“That was amazing,” said Sjostrom. “I’m very proud of this gold medal, which is the fifth one.”

It was Sjostrom’s 20th individual medal at a world championships, tying American great Michael Phelps for the most ever.

It was her 11th world title, and came 14 years after she claimed her first in Rome in 2009. “I feel like I enjoy it more than ever at the moment, it’s great,” she said.

Zhang was looking for her second individual gold of the championships, having won the 100m butterfly earlier in the week. She was also part of the China’s gold medal-winning mixed 4x100m medley relay team.