In 2015, a 15-year-old prodigy clocked 53 seconds in the 100m freestyle in Baku, Azerbaijan. It was her second youth national record of the meet and her 11th national record overall. But five years later, injuries forced Marrit Steenbergen out of the pool, leading to a three-year absence from the pool. This stalled her rise to the top of the sport. But now, a decade after that breakthrough, the 26-year-old has rewritten history by breaking a world record.

It marked the heights fans had always predicted for Steenbergen. Competing at the Sette Colli International in Rome, the Dutch swimmer quite literally flew through the pool. She clocked 24.98 in the first 50m before finishing in 26.70 to register 51.68, setting new European and World records. For a swimmer whose career was repeatedly interrupted by recurring shoulder issues and other injuries, it was a triumphant reminder of the talent many feared might never fully return

“It still feels so weird … I hope that it will sink in,” Steenbergen said, according to Reuters. “But ​it’s always when someone goes faster, you see that it’s going ​faster in the last (few) years.

“It’s always when someone does ⁠it that more people start doing it, like it’s a form of motivation. So ​I think more people will start swimming 52-lows, 51s, because it always goes ​like that, and I think that’s really good for the sport.”

It bettered reigning Olympic champion (50m and 100m) Sarah Sjostrom’s former world record time of 51.71, which she set in 2017. That makes Steenbergen the first 100m freestyle Dutch women’s world record holder since Inge de Bruijn broke it in 2000. Since then, the record has changed hands eight times, with Britta Steffen and Libby Lenton breaking their own records multiple times.

Not only that, but it also saw Steenbergen break her own personal best, which she set last month when she hit 51.86. In fact, that alone represents a serious drop in time from her, considering that she entered the season with a best of 52.26 set in 2024, which made her one of the best in the world. 

Steenbergen went into the 2024 Paris Olympics as a favourite. However, the pressure and the glitz of the Olympics got to Steenbergen, and she failed to medal. This forced her to change her mindset completely after the Olympics, something that worked as a charm. She won the 2025 World Championship gold in the 100m freestyle in Singapore. 

Not just that, Steenbergen also won eight medals at the 2025 European Championships (SC). That tally includes golds in the 100m, 200m, 4x50m, and 4x50m mixed freestyle alongside 100m and 200m individual medley. It’s been a remarkable turn of events, and now she’s added a world record to her name.

That resurgence did not happen overnight. In the aftermath of the Paris Olympics, Steenbergen made a series of changes away from the pool, decisions she now believes laid the foundation for the best swimming of her career.

Marrit Steenbergen reflects on her comeback after Paris

Going into the 2024 Paris Olympics, few athletes were as well placed on paper as Marrit Steenbergen to win the Olympic gold medal. She was at her peak, putting up some of the best times of her career. That included clocking a personal best with a gold medal at the 2024 World Championships. 

In fact, even the Dutch media hyped her up, essentially calling her a gold-medal guarantee, which affected the then-World No. 1. She even admitted, a year later, that she did put too much pressure on herself, and in the end, swam 52.83, her second-worst time in the 100m freestyle of the season. She finished seventh in the Final.

It’s why she changed her mindset after the Olympics, not returning to the pool until November 2024, three months later. Instead, she focused on keeping herself fit and enjoying her life outside the pool.

“I think if I went straight back to training after Paris, I wouldn’t have been that strong mentally,” Steenbergen told World Aquatics in 2025. “It would have been a challenge to finish this season, so I think it made me stronger.”

Steenbergen also cut back on the number of races she competed in. She swam 19 races at the 2023 World Championships, but that dropped to 14 in 2024 and then just 10 in 2025, as the 26-year-old narrowed her focus to stay at her best.

“I don’t know if I can do that again,” Steenbergen explained of 19 swims in 2023. “You just try to manage your time in the pool as (best) as you can. Like, not be there for six hours and stuff…sleep as much as you can, even though you’re home late and have to get up early, and accept that it’s going to be tough.”

A decade after emerging as one of swimming’s brightest teenage talents, Steenbergen has finally delivered on the promise many saw back in 2015. This time, it wasn’t just another national record; it was a world record built on years of setbacks, patience, and a complete reset after Paris.