The swimming star is making a comeback at the annual Swim Open in Stockholm.
The competition starts on Thursday and runs until Sunday - Sjöström will swim the Olympic gold-medal event, the 50-meter freestyle, on Saturday.
It has been 20 months since she last competed - just after the double Olympic gold in Paris - and in the meantime she has become a mother. Her son Adrian was born under dramatic circumstances in the ambulance outside Södersjukhuset in August last year.
At last year's World Championships in Singapore, the void left by Sjöström became extremely clear. Sweden missed out on a medal at the long-course World Championships for the first time in 39 years.
“Winning a medal in Paris”
Victor Johansson has no doubts that Sarah Sjöström can reach her old levels again:
It's Sarah we're talking about; it wouldn't be surprising if she wins a medal in Paris at the European Championships.
Sjöström is making a comeback with an eye on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and she plans to swim at this summer's European Championships in Paris in four months.
When she started training properly again in January, she was hesitant to make a competitive comeback already in the Swim Open.
It's quite difficult to set a competition schedule just a few months after giving birth, so I felt like I just wanted to get started with training and see how my body felt.
Now I've been training; my body feels good and I'm responding to the training, says Sjöström.
European Championship qualifiers in training
National team captain Martina Aronsson reveals that Sarah Sjöström, who holds the world record of 23.61 in the 50-meter freestyle, swam the European Championship qualifying time (25.50) in training.
National teammate and butterfly specialist Louise Hansson will face Sjöström in Stockholm - and expects to finish well behind her.
I think she will be fast, so I will try to keep up, she says.
Sjöström says she doesn't feel any pressure from outside expectations regarding the comeback.
"I think many people just find it very exciting, excited about what's going to happen and maybe it's fun to see what you can do just over seven months after giving birth. For me, it also feels really exciting," says Sjöström, who is not ready to swim the 50-meter butterfly yet.
However, son Adrian will not be able to follow his mother's comeback.
We are sleep training our little son right now so he falls asleep at half past five and wakes up at six the next day, so I don't want to break the routine, she says.
Facts: Sarah Sjöström
Born: August 17, 1993 (age 32).
Family: Married to Johan de Jong Skierus, son Adrian, 7 months.
Main achievements, Olympics: 3 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze, World Championships (long course): 14 gold, 8 silver, 3 bronze, World Championships (short course): 6 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze, European Championships (long course): 17 gold, 7 silver, 4 bronze, European Championships (short course): 12 gold, 13 silver, 1 bronze.
