Sarah Sjöström's Fears & Guilty Pleasures

Sarah Sjöström's Fears & Guilty Pleasures

​Sarah Sjöström​ is arguably the best female swimmer in the world right now. Learn about Sjostrom's life outside of the pool in this article.

Oct 17, 2017 by Maclin Simpson
Sarah Sjöström's Fears & Guilty Pleasures
​South African swimmer ​Cameron van der Burgh​​ is a two-time Olympic medalist and former world-record holder in the 100m breaststroke. Along with co-founding the marketing agency Touch 58, he recently started a blog in which he gives an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the life of elite professional swimmers -- both in and out of the pool. He covers topics from "6 Tips On How To Beat Jet Lag" to "Behind The Scenes Of The World Cup" -- where he has cleaned up in the sprint breaststrokes during the first two clusters.

In the blog post below, van der Burgh talks with Swedish star ​Sarah Sjöström​.

Sjöström is arguably the best female swimmer in the world right now. She has countless Olympic and world titles paired with four long course meters world records to match. The flying Swedish meatball is now so popular she has even beat one of the world's most adored sports stars, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, at the Swedish People's choice awards two years running.


Sarah on her fear of flying...


Sjöström: "My worst fear is flying, which is probably the worst thing a professional athlete can have. I never use to be this bad, but as I have gotten older I'm getting worse. My worst flight I've ever taken was from London to Rio, the plane was shaking in the middle of the night so violently from turbulence I thought we were going down! It gets better when I fly with teammates or friends, but when sitting next to a stranger I really start to panic!"

Tips for making flying easier?


"I always have my headphones in. Half the time I don't even listen to music! The quietness soothes me. Sometimes though I do listen to podcasts as the voices sooth."

Sjöström listens to a variety of podcasts from the creation of the modern Olympic Games to Sweden's historical heritage -- all of these in English.

"I listen to English podcasts mostly as I am trying to improve my vocabulary for interviews and my next career."

On life after swimming...


"I want to work in television, most probably live commentary and interviews around sport. I really hate it when you finish a race and the journalist asks you the dumbest questions! I think I would be good at this because I know how an athlete is feeling having been in their shoes before. If it was a good or a bad performance the questions should change and not always be the generic 'How was your race?' which is then followed by the generic answer."


Sarah's guilty pleasure:


"Interior decorating! Every time I get a bonus from sponsors I take a small chunk of that and renovate a room professionally. My last purchase was a custom-designed carpet for the dining room. The colors of the rooms are all dark so that the small details we add really get highlighted! I only have one room left so I hope I manage to win the overall World Cup!" 

null
 

Best purchase you've ever made?


"Mocha Master coffee machine. The first thing I do in the morning is make a cup of coffee and watch the news."


Taper essentials?


"Sleeping a lot during taper helps me. I try get an extra hour or two every night. Sun is important, mostly because it makes me happy."

Favorite piece of equipment? 


"I love my Arena snorkel! I can't do a session without using (it) somewhere."


Lessons from her younger brother:


"Linus has taught me how to see the small, often overlooked details in life. He has autism and this creates a sensory overload but allows him to see a degree of beauty very few people experience. He is 13 years younger than me so I'm kind of like a second mother who helped raise him. I love that he is always just himself. He never cares for what others think."

null