Stefan Nystrand (Sweden, lane 4), Amaury Leveaux (France, lane 3) and Cullen Jones (USA, lane 2) in the men's 50m freestyle semifinals at the 2009 World Aquatics Championships.
After breaking the 48 second barrier in the 100 m freestyle long course (he was only the second person to do so after then world record holder Pieter van den Hoogenband) in Paris, Nystrand revealed that he averages less than 3,000 meters a practice, a minuscule amount compared to other professional swimmers, and never more than 20,000 meters a week. He is also noted for having an atypical front crawl technique in which his arms do not bend during the recovery phase. Normally, a swimmer will bend the arm at the elbow while above water to improve their line in the water.
Nystrand has also competed at theOlympic Games, in2000,2004,2008 and2012. His best placing at the Games is the fourth place he got at the50 metre freestyle event, 0.06 seconds behind South African medallistRoland Schoeman. At the Berlin round of the 2007 FINA World Cup, Nystrand broke the 100 m freestyle and 50 m freestyle (both short course) world records.
Legend:WR –World record;ER –European record;NR –Swedish record; Records not set in finals:h – heat;sf – semifinal;r – relay 1st leg;rh – relay heat 1st leg;b – B final;† – en route to final mark;tt – time trial
Legend:WR –World record;ER –European record;NR –Swedish record; Records not set in finals:h – heat;sf – semifinal;r – relay 1st leg;rh – relay heat 1st leg;b – B final;† – en route to final mark;tt – time trial
Sweden
