The Helsingborg swimmer had a couple of years in 2021 and 2022 when she went like a rocket and struck into the world top.
European Championship gold and sixth places at the Olympic Games and World Championship and both World Championship silver and bronze in short course.
But then the back problems came and the results dipped.
How much did the back problems play in?
I would be lying if I said it didn't affect me, but to what degree is very hard to say, says Sophie Hansson.
She trains at the national elite center (NEC) in Stockholm after several years abroad, first at college in North Carolina and then in England.
Changed training
After the Olympic Games in Paris, where it ended in the semifinal, she and coach Johan Wallberg at NEC together with SOK, the Swedish Olympic Committee, took on the problem.
After the Olympic Games this summer, I felt that when I'm going to lay out a plan for the next four-year cycle and Los Angeles 2028, I have to get my back in order. So I've changed my training, I swim a little less and do a little more alternative training. With a focus on 50, I can swim a few fewer meters. I've experienced a positive strengthening of my back, she says.
In the spring, the news also came that the 50-meter distances in breaststroke, butterfly, and backstroke will be included in the Olympic program in 2028.
"Trained to beat it"
The short breaststroke distance is not new to her – Hansson took bronze on the distance at the short course World Championship in 2021 – but it's the first time she's focusing on it.
The World Championship goal?
I would like to beat my personal record, because it's been a long time since I was down at 30.3 and I feel that I'm trained to beat it, says Hansson, whose personal record 30.31 is from 2021.
If she reaches that goal, she can be involved in fighting for a place in the World Championship final.
Sophie Hansson still swims the 100-meter distance, but was eliminated in the heats at the World Championship. The positive: the first 50 meters looked really good.
On Saturday, the short breaststroke distance starts at the World Championship.
