Swedish record – but another honorable fifth place.
Michelle Coleman sucked after the relay final:
We broke the Swedish record, but we had hoped for more. We are quite tired of finishing fifth.
The major nations Australia, USA, China, and Canada took the first four places.
Sweden was never close to a medal in the end and had over three seconds up to the podium.
They are in a different league. We are the best European team and that's roughly what you expect, but when you're in a final, you want a little more, says Sarah Sjöström.
The quartet Sjöström (52,53), Coleman (52,98), Sara Junevik (54,41), and Louise Hansson (53,87) swam in 3.33,79.
Thus, the Swedish record from 2017 was improved by 15 hundredths.
Sweden finished sixth in the OS in Tokyo 2021 and fifth in the World Championship 2023 in Fukuoka.
Long medal drought
The last Swedish OS medal in the relay lies 24 years back in time, in Sydney 2000.
We did the best lap a Swedish team has done, but the big nations have extra gears and extra swimmers to put in, says Coleman.
If you can find more even girls who swim around 53,5, you can relieve each other. Just like the best teams, means Sjöström.
Australia won in 3.28,92 and was barely 1.3 seconds ahead of the USA, which took silver with a tenth of a second margin to China, which came to Paris with black doping clouds hanging over them.
"Doing a good job"
This after the revelation that 23 Chinese swimmers – eleven of them are in Paris – left positive doping tests half a year before the OS in Tokyo 2021.
But they were never banned and got to compete further, as China's explanation that they had ingested contaminated food was bought by the anti-doping agency Wada and the International Swimming Federation.
It's good that Australia and the USA are doing a good job, says Coleman, referring to the relay result.
It's good that it has been exposed, she adds.
Sweden's ladies have one relay left, in medley, next Sunday.
