In the corona bubble in Budapest, Sarah Sjöström is in full swing with the preparations for the competitions in the International swimming league.
The team competition that pits ten international teams against each other in the battle for big prize money where Sarah Sjöström last year was awarded the title, MVP, most valuable player after the overall win.
"Now I have really been able to drive on"
Nine months of competition break, her longest since she started swimming, has meant an unusual amount of time to train for Sweden's brightest swimming star.
Something she was not late to take advantage of.
- I have really had time to build up the body with a long training plan.
There are often many breaks with competitions, but now I have really been able to drive on with several good training blocks.
Got ten weeks "vacation"
The pandemic also gave Sjöström the chance for an unprecedented ten-week holiday.
Ten weeks that included both studies and even more training.
- My leave is not what many others call leave.
I usually exercise quite a lot when I am free but maybe not swimming.
More strength training and running and things that I do not have time for when I swim so much, Sjöström says to SVT Sport.
In the WC in South Korea, Sarah Sjöström did not have a single day off and competed in a total of seven different distances.
But despite hard strain during the championships, it does not look like there will be any major downsizing for the future.
- It really feels like a luxury to be good at so many branches.
50 butterfly is unfortunately not available at the Olympics, but I have many choices, you just have to see how the shape will be.
I get to see how the body reacts to training, sometimes the body responds a little better to 50 free and sometimes it is 100 butterfly swimming that feels a little better.
I will choose to line up on the branches that I feel good about, says Sjöström.
ARCHIVE: Sjöström on the corona crisis: "Incredibly unreal" (May 3):
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Sjöström on the corona crisis: "Incredibly unreal everything right now"