Marrit Steenbergen moved to second on the all-time list for the women’s 100m freestyle as she clocked 51.86 at the second stop in the Mare Nostrum series at Canet in France.

The 26-year-old Dutch athlete, who retained her world 100m freestyle record last year, had lowered her national record to 52.13 on May 23 at the opening Mare Nostrum stop in Monaco.

But in Canet she moved to a different level to finish just 0.15 off the world record of 51.71 set in 2017 by Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom.

Steenbergen thus became the fourth woman to better 52.00 for the event, along with Anna Moesch, who set an American record of 51.94 at last weekend’s AP Race London International, and Emma McKeon of Australia, who has clocked 51.96.

Last summer in Singapore Steenbergen – the 2025 European Aquatics Women’s Swimming Athlete of the Year – won her second world 100m freestyle gold in 52.55.

She went on to produce an astonishing performance at the European Aquatics Short Course Championships in Lublin, where she won five golds and set five European records.

In Canet Steenbergen was followed home by Hong Kong’ s multiple world and Olympic medallist Siobhan Haughey, who recorded 52.36.

Italy’s Simona Quadarella took the women’s 800 freestyle title in a Canet record of 8:20.54.

Hungary’s double Olympic champion Kristof Milak was third in the men’s 50m butterfly in 23.27 and second in the 100m butterfly in 48.76 behind Patrick Sammon of the United States, who recorded 48.04.

Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics