Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom, on the comeback trail after giving birth to a son last August, clocked 23.86 for the women’s 50m freestyle at the Sette Colli International in Rome as she finished second to Gretchen Walsh, who swam 23.55 to take 0.40 off the world record set by fellow American Kate Douglass nine days earlier.

Douglass’ time of 23.59 had bettered Sjostrom’s 2023 world record of 23.61, and the 32-year-old double Olympic champion also lost her world 100m freestyle record in Rome, where Marrit Steenbergen of The Netherlands clocked 51.68 to better her 2017 mark of 51.71.

It was nevertheless a remarkable performance for Sjostrom, who is seeking to return to the podium at the European Aquatics Championships Paris 2026 despite having missed 20 months training before getting back into competition in April.

Meanwhile 19-year-old Sara Curtis of Italy, who set a European 50m backstroke record on the opening day of the meeting, earned her third consecutive national record as she clocked 24.09 for third place, taking 0.20 off her own mark.

Elsewhere in Rome, Switzerland’s Noe Ponti clocked 22.73 to take the men’s 50m butterfly honours ahead of Hungary’s double Olympic champion Kristof Milak, who recorded a national record of 22.86.

And Romania’s 21-year-old Olympic champion David Popovici, the EA male swimmer of 2025, won the 200m freestyle in a meeting record of 1:44.48 to add to his previous night’s 100m freestyle meeting record of 47.26.

Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics