Stefan Nystrand (born 20 October 1981 in Haninge) 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 nameStefan Nystrand
Nationality Sweden
Born (1981-10-20) 20 October 1981 (age 42)
Haninge, Sweden
Height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight85 kg (187 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle
ClubSK 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)
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Melbourne 50 m freestyle
World Championships (SC)
Gold medal – first place 2000 Athens 4×100 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2000 Athens 100 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2002 Moscow[1] 4×100 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2004 Indianapolis[2] 50 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2006 Shanghai 4×100 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Athens[3] 50 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Indianapolis 50 m breaststroke
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Shanghai[4] 100 m individual medley
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Manchester 4×100 m freestyle
European Championships (LC)
Gold medal – first place 2008 Eindhoven 4×100 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2000 Helsinki 4×100 m medley
Silver medal – second place 2002 Berlin 4×100 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2004 Madrid 50 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2006 Budapest 100 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2008 Eindhoven 100 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2010 Budapest 50 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2012 Debrecen 50 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Eindhoven 50 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Eindhoven 4×100 m medley
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Budapest 4×100 m freestyle
European Championships (SC)
Gold medal – first place 1999 Lisboa 4×50 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 1999 Lisboa 4×50 m medley
Gold medal – first place 2000 Valencia 50 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2000 Valencia 100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2000 Valencia 4×50 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2001 Antwerp 50 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2001 Antwerp 100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2002 Riesa 50 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2006 Helsinki 4×50 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2007 Debrecen 50 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2007 Debrecen 4×50 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2003 Dublin 4×50 m medley
Silver medal – second place 2006 Helsinki 100 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2007 Debrecen 100 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Antwerp 4×50 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Antwerp 4×50 m medley

Biography edit

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 edit

Long course (50 m) edit

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: WRWorld record; EREuropean record; NRSwedish 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) edit

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: WRWorld record; EREuropean record; NRSwedish 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 edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "2002 World Championships – Short Course Swim Rankings results". Archived from the original on 8 September 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2007.
  2. ^ "7th FINA World Championships – 25m Indianapolis 2004" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2007.
  3. ^ "5th FINA World Swimming Championships". Archived from the original on 18 December 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2007.
  4. ^ "Shanghai 2006 results". Archived from the original on 6 March 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2007.
  5. ^ "Dva svjetska rekorda za obitelj Kokeza" (in Croatian). 21 November 2007. Archived from the original on 23 February 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2008.
  6. ^ "Results Men's 50m Freestyle Semi" (PDF). OmegaTiming. 30 July 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2009. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  7. ^ "Results Men's 100m Freestyle" (PDF). OmegaTiming. 30 July 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  8. ^ "Results Men's 50 m Freestyle" (PDF). Omega Timing. 15 November 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 November 2009. Retrieved 15 November 2009.
  9. ^ "Results Men's 100m Freestyle" (PDF). Omega Timing. 10 November 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 November 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2009.

External links edit