American great Mark Spitz believes Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden's sprint sensation, can swim even faster after she became the first woman to go under 52 seconds for the 100-meter freestyle. Spitz, who won seven golds at the 1972 Munich Olympics, was left in awe of Sjostrom, who dipped under 52 seconds when leading off Sweden in the women's 4x100 relay at the FINA world championships in Budapest on Sunday. Spitz himself became the first man to break 52 seconds in 1970 before posting 51.47 seconds in the blue riband event ahead of his Munich tilt.
"In the 47 years it has taken a woman to go as fast as a man there have been three of four generations that have come and gone since I retired," Spitz said on the sidelines of the world championships. "There will always be a comparison where a woman can be as fast as a man but it's now testament to new types of training and cross-training. It's exciting." Sjostrom also became the first woman to win four gold medals in the women's 100 butterfly — her first coming in 2009 as a 15-year-old — while the garlanded 23-year-old has the 50 in both freestyle and butterfly still to come. Sjostrom began her 100 individual bid on Thursday by easing into semifinals in 53.01 seconds. Spitz blitzed to Munich gold in 51.22 and admits Sjostrom has the capability to make further inroads on his Olympic mark.
