Dutch swimmer Marrit Steenbergen set a new women's 100m freestyle record on Saturday, clocking 51.68 seconds in the finals of the Sette Colli International Trophy in Rome.
The 26-year-old reigning world champion bettered the 51.71 that Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom posted at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest.
Steenbergen finished ahead of Hong Kong's Siobhan Haughey (52.52) and Italy's Sara Curtis (52.69) in the Rome meet.
Haughey had led at the midway point in 24.94 but Steenbergen pulled out a huge turn and expanded her margin.
A two-time world champion in the 100 freestyle -- Doha 2024 and Singapore 2025 -- Steenbergen is the only woman to break 52 seconds in the discipline on multiple occasions.
MARRIT STEENBERGEN!! The prophecy fulfilled, a new World Record in the women's 100 meter free, 51.68, in Rome.
— Braden Keith (@Braden_Keith) June 27, 2026
This was always her destiny. It was derailed by injury and other things in her late teens and early 20s, but the potential was always there. pic.twitter.com/20dPAFpOOd