Swimmer Jakob Jóhann Sveinsson of Aegir won the 50, 100 and 200-meter breaststroke in the Icelandic Championship in Laugardalslaug swimming pool in Reykjavík last weekend, breaking the Icelandic record in all instances.
Swimming in Iceland. The photo is unrelated to the story. By Páll Stefánsson.
Sveinsson also became the first Icelander to swim the 100-meter breaststroke in less than one minute—58.91 seconds—which is the second best achievement in Europe this year and the second best achievement in the Nordic countries of all time, Morgunbladid reports.
“There are many explanations for this progress. For example, I have started swimming in plastic pants which have less resistance in the pool,” Sveinsson told mbl.is. “I have been aiming for swimming the 100-meter breaststroke in less than one minute since 2002.”
In 200-meter breaststroke, Sveinsson came close to breaking the Nordic record of 2.07.20 minutes, set by Danish swimmer Chris Christiansen earlier this year. There were only 55/100 parts of a second between Sveinsson’s and Christiansen’s time.
