Stefan Nystrand

Stefan Nystrand (born 20 October 1981) is a freestyle swimmer from Sweden.

Stefan Nystrand

Stefan Nystrand (Sweden, lane 4), Amaury Leveaux (France, lane 3) and Cullen Jones (USA, lane 2) in the men's 50m freestyle semifinals.
Personal information
Full name	Stefan Nystrand
Nationality	Sweden
Born	(1981-10-20) 20 October 1981 (age 43) Haninge, Sweden
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	85 kg (187 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle
Club	SK Neptun
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd World Championships (LC) 0 0 1 World Championships (SC) 1 4 4 European Championships (LC) 1 7 3 European Championships (SC) 11 3 2 Total 13 14 10 World Championships (LC) 2007 Melbourne 50 m freestyle World Championships (SC) 2000 Athens 4×100 m freestyle 2000 Athens 100 m freestyle 2002 Moscow[1] 4×100 m freestyle 2004 Indianapolis[2] 50 m freestyle 2006 Shanghai 4×100 m freestyle 2000 Athens[3] 50 m freestyle 2004 Indianapolis 50 m breaststroke 2006 Shanghai[4] 100 m individual medley 2008 Manchester 4×100 m freestyle European Championships (LC) 2008 Eindhoven 4×100 m freestyle 2000 Helsinki 4×100 m medley 2002 Berlin 4×100 m freestyle 2004 Madrid 50 m freestyle 2006 Budapest 100 m freestyle 2008 Eindhoven 100 m freestyle 2010 Budapest 50 m freestyle 2012 Debrecen 50 m freestyle 2008 Eindhoven 50 m freestyle 2008 Eindhoven 4×100 m medley 2010 Budapest 4×100 m freestyle European Championships (SC) 1999 Lisboa 4×50 m freestyle 1999 Lisboa 4×50 m medley 2000 Valencia 50 m freestyle 2000 Valencia 100 m freestyle 2000 Valencia 4×50 m freestyle 2001 Antwerp 50 m freestyle 2001 Antwerp 100 m freestyle 2002 Riesa 50 m freestyle 2006 Helsinki 4×50 m freestyle 2007 Debrecen 50 m freestyle 2007 Debrecen 4×50 m freestyle 2003 Dublin 4×50 m medley 2006 Helsinki 100 m freestyle 2007 Debrecen 100 m freestyle 2001 Antwerp 4×50 m freestyle 2001 Antwerp 4×50 m medley

Biography

His father Sture Nystrand is a Swede and his mother Smiljana Kokeza is a Croat from Split.^[5]

Nystrand, a short course (25 m) specialist, has won five individual medals in the FINA Short Course World Championships, and captured his first medal (silver) in long course (50 m) in the 100 m freestyle at the 2006 European Aquatics Championships in Budapest, behind Filippo Magnini of Italy. The following year he won a bronze medal at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne at the 50 m freestyle, with a new national record of 21.97.

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 the Olympic Games, in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012. His best placing at the Games is the fourth place he got at the 50 metre freestyle event, 0.06 seconds behind South African medallist Roland 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.

Personal bests

Long course (50 m)

Event	Time		Date	Meet	Location	Ref
50 m freestyle	21.45	NR (sf)	31 Jul 2009	World Championships	Rome, Italy	[6]
100 m freestyle	47.37	NR	30 Jul 2009	World Championships	Rome, Italy	[7]
50 m breaststroke	28.66	(sf)	13 May 2004	European LC Championships	Madrid, Spain

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

Short course (25 m)

Event	Time		Date	Meet	Location	Ref
50 m freestyle	20.70	NR	15 Nov 2009	World Cup	Berlin, Germany	[8]
100 m freestyle	45.54	NR	10 Nov 2009	World Cup	Stockholm, Sweden	[9]
50 m breaststroke	26.70		28 Nov 2009	Swedish SC Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden
50 m butterfly	23.75	(h)	25 Oct 2008	World Cup	Sydney, Australia
100 m individual medley	53.97	NR	9 Apr 2006	World SC Championships	Shanghai, China

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

Clubs

• Södertörns SS (−2006)
• SK Neptun (2006–2011)
• Spårvägens SF (2011–)

See also

• World record progression 50 metres freestyle
• World record progression 100 metres freestyle