Stilstudie Alshammar
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Therese Alshammar is the only female swimmer to have competed at six Olympic Games. The Swede is the oldest woman to win an individual gold medal at the World Championships and holds the longest-standing women’s short-course world record. She is also a mother of two, a businesswoman, author and a supporter of environmental issues. On International Women’s Day, European Aquatics speaks to the sprint freestyle and butterfly specialist about her long and illustrious career.
Therese Alshammar’s story begins in August 1977 when she was born in Solna, Sweden, to Britt-Marie Smedh and Krister Alshammar. Britt-Marie competed at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, coming seventh in the 100m breaststroke, 10th over 200m and eighth as part of the Swedish women’s 4x100m medley relay. Therese followed in her mother’s slipstream and made her senior international debut aged 15 at the 1993 European Championships in Sheffield where she finished fourth in the 100m backstroke.
In December of that year, and now 16, Therese competed in the first World Short-Course Championships in Palma de Mallorca. Competing as a junior on the senior stage, Therese credits the role her mother played in helping her negotiate international waters.
“Very important. My mother always said you can study later so keep swimming for as long as you are enjoying it, which is good advice,” she told European Aquatics.
“I was so happy I went to college and swam during my career but I also think it’s important to have people let you chase your dreams, so you can be free in your choices and go after what you’re looking for and what you dream of. Sport is never safe so there’s a big gamble that you might go for sport and then end up injured so you need people pushing you, having your back, you need people around you that are the wind at your back and support your dreams and help you all the time. We only see the top of the iceberg and all the effort, all the hard work has gone in before that so I think my parents were both immensely important in pushing me to continue swimming and to keep going.”
Therese made her Olympic debut at Atlanta 1996 aged 18 where she finished eighth in the 100m backstroke B final. She went on to specialise in freestyle and butterfly and four years later at Sydney 2000 won silver medals in the 50m and 100m freestyle as the Netherlands’ Inge de Bruijn claimed the double. There was also bronze with the Swedish women’s 4x100m freestyle relay behind the USA and the Netherlands.
At Athens 2004, Therese was fourth in the 50m freestyle, locked out of the podium by 0.02, and seventh in the freestyle relay. She reached the sprint freestyle semis at Beijing 2008 but four years later at London 2012 came back to place sixth. Therese was chosen to be the Swedish flag-bearer at the opening ceremony at Rio 2016 and was two weeks shy of her 39th birthday when she stepped on the Olympic blocks for the final time at Rio 2016, finishing 15th in the 50 free semis.
With that, Therese joined fellow Swede Lars Frölander and Derya Büyükuncu of Turkey as the only swimmers to have competed at six Olympics with Tunisian Oussama Mellouli joining the club at Tokyo 2020. What makes her achievement all the more remarkable is the fact she had son Freddie in May 2013 and the following year suffered a slipped disc. There was also an attempt to reach a seventh Games in Tokyo but it wasn’t to be. Did it take time to realise the magnitude of what she had achieved?
“That comes down to personality: I’m not a big fan of that,” she said.
“Halfway through my career I noticed that I really don’t put much value on results or achievements, I am more a curious and creative type. I think maybe I endured injury and came back from having a kid and did my sixth Olympics and I think looking back on that, that was my hardest experience. And they also had the semifinals starting at 10pm at Rio 2016 so I think it gives me a greater perspective. I wouldn’t say that I’m impressed or in awe of myself, I just know how easy some things came in my career versus how hard I tried for some things that weren’t even nearly as successful.
“My son was three; with kids they wake up early in the morning and I had my kid with me which is a blessing but it’s hard to race at midnight when you have been since up 5am. I am so happy I could swim for a long time. I love swimming and I am so happy I was able to do it for so long.”
Therese ended her career with 71 international medals including three Olympic, 25 World and 43 European honours. She remains the oldest female world champion having won the 50 free at Shanghai 2011 aged 33 and her 50 fly short-course world record of 24.38 from November 2009 still stands today.
Key to her longevity it seems is her love of the water.
“For me, I really like swimming,” she said. “I see that difference with some other friends I have who do sport and then they leave their sports and they never want to do it again. Whereas I don’t want to compete again, I just want to go in the water again. So I have a deep love for swimming in itself.”
Freddie is now 10 and has been joined by brother Ted, six, with partner Johan Wallberg. Therese runs learn-to-swim schools and has written children’s books about swimming. She has co-founded an environmentally-friendly home care brand and plans to launch a business dedicated to career transition for athletes following retirement.
THE SWIMMERS SHE ADMIRES
“I’d have to mention my mother because she was a swimmer at the 72 Olympics in Munich so she was my first role model and also a facilitator for my career.
“I really liked Marleen Veldhuis (four-time Olympic medallist) and she had a much better comeback than I did after a kid.
“She was very brave, if you have good races with someone it’s also very nice getting to know the person behind the swimming cap and goggles and she is a very nice person.
“And the Dutch have always had fast sprinters so I started racing Inge de Bruijn (four-time Olympic champion) and then Marleen and then Ranomi Kromowidjojo (three-time Olympic champion).
“I think America has a lot of great sprinters so we had Jenny Thompson (eight Olympic golds) and Dara Torres – who was the oldest Olympic medallist ever (aged 41 at Beijing 2008) – and they’re also inspiring in the sense they’ve all gone their own way and been groundbreaking.”
WOMEN MAKING A POSITIVE IMPACT
“Greta Thunberg – a very famous Swedish environmental activist.
“Sports does good but I admire people who dedicate their time and life to having an impact on the world, making it a better place, in Sweden more than ever today I think.
“So a lot of philanthropists: in Sweden we have a few very impressive philanthropists and businesswomen.
“I admire females who dedicate their time and their knowledge to making the world a better place.
“Really showing it is possible to do both business and to have an impact on making good choices.”
Omslagsbild: Therese med mamma Britt-Marie
Fotograf: Jesper Zerman, Bildbyrån
