On Sunday, the World Championship in long course begins in Singapore – a championship that has the highest status in swimming after the Olympic Games.
Sarah Sjöström has swum all World Championships in long course since she broke through and is the most successful swimmer in World Championship history.
No one has taken more individual World Championship medals than Sjöström with her 23 (of which 14 gold). She surpassed Michael Phelps, the Olympic king, in Fukuoka, Japan in 2023 when she took her 21st.
"Super-Sarah" would have done her tenth World Championship in long course after her debut in Rome 2009.
But the amount of championships after the pandemic made her decide to skip it anyway.
In normal cases, the long course World Championship is decided every other year, now it will be the fourth year in a row with the World Championship.
Championships in abundance
Last year, both the World Championship and the Olympic Games were on the program – Sjöström took double gold in both championships – and the Swede swam between 2021 and 2024 a total of eight championships in short and long course.
I felt after the Olympic Games that it had been a lot. It was on its way in the wrong direction if I had continued to push myself in that way, says Sarah Sjöström.
She will turn 32 years old in August when she and her husband Johan de Jong Skierus also become parents for the first time.
Then the plan is for her to come back with her sights set on the Olympic Games in Los Angeles 2028.
To be able to carry out that plan, this year's rest year is completely crucial.
"Can't be part of everything"
Will it feel strange when the World Championship starts and you're at home?
We had planned to have children during this Olympic cycle, but it went pretty fast. But I've been set on not swimming the World Championship this year, so it feels natural. You can't be part of everything, she says.
How will it go for Sweden without you?
A World Championship is tough. You can have high expectations, but if someone were to win a medal, it might be an upset. There is absolutely a possibility, but it's not a given, I think everyone who's going is aware of that, says Sjöström, who is aiming for a championship comeback at the European Championship in Paris in August next year.
Sjöström has taken the opportunity to do a lot on the side of swimming this year. She was in "Masked Singer" on TV4 and will participate in SVT's "Stjärnorna på slottet" in the winter, which was recorded just before Midsummer. She has also studied business management during the spring.
Maybe I wouldn't have done this if I had swum the World Championship this summer, but now there have been more gaps in the calendar, so it's been fun to do something else.
