The first day of the Amsterdam Swim Cup witnessed some tight racing and encouraging early season performances. World 100m 'fly champion, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), is extending her repertoire to freestyle, clocking 1:58.41 in a tight tussle with Femke Heemskerk (NED), second in 1:58.81. Inge Dekker (NED) took third in 1:59.58.

Heemskerk took a strong lead at half way, on 57.77, after Dekker had set the early pace with a 27.80 first 50m, with the Swedish vistor biding her time, on 28.45 and 58.84. Down the third length, Heemskerk maintained her lead, losing only 0.2sec to Sjostrom but on the way home the world 'fly champion, 16, took almost a second off Dekker and more than a second off the leader until the final strokes, with the only sub 30sec closing 50m. 

In fifth place, 16-year-old Sharon van Rouwendaal, like Dekker one of the Eiffel Swimmers squad in Eindhoven clocked 2:01.32 to book a ticket to the Youth Olympics in Singapore.

Sjostrom's time, comparing to a shiny suit best of 1:57.34 last year, offers an interesting prospect: what could the world 100m champion do in the 200m 'fly in the years ahead?

The Cup also serves as a qualification for Dutch swimmers aiming for the European Championships in Budapest this August. If the Dutch freestyle duo made the grade at the start of the session (the result indicates that they did not but there is a relay to consider, while both women will; surely feature in other events in Budapest), they were joined at the end of it by Nick Driebergen, on a solid 1:58.70 in the 200m backstroke. The Dutch champion will doubtless be heartened by his latest effort: while a best of 1:56.85 reflected 2009 race conditions, his 2008 best was a 2:00.24 and his lifetime best, from 2007, was a 1:59.26.

The Cup attracted a wealth of foreign swim stars. Among them, and at the helm in the 50m 'fly was Jason Dunford (KEN), on 23.91 and pressed all the way by Joeri Verlinden (NED), on 23.95, with breaststroke specialist Robin van Aggele third in 24.13. Dunford has just spent a week in Eindhoven training with his new teammates at the ADN Project, his new European base for the season ahead.

Lennart Stekelenburg claimed the 200m breaststroke in 2:15.65, compared to 2:13.68 at the Cup last year in different circumstances. Stekelenburg made a point  at the Cup a year ago in protest against the use of suits that buoyed performance and skewed the result sheet. This is how we covered that back then.  

At the 2010 Cup, Stekelenburg is at the helm once more. Thijs van Valkengoed (NED), with a 2009 best of 2:11.79, was second in 2:16.95, while Federico Franciolini (ITA), on 2:13.48 last year, placed third in 2:18.56. 

His teammate, Federico Turrini, 22, racing the 400m medley for the first time since 2007, took the 400m medley in 4:20.09, a second down on best. Simon Sjodin (SWE) clocked a best time of 4:21.52 for second, with Ward Bauwens (BEL) on a best of 4:28.89 for third. 

In a tight 50m breaststroke clash, Moniek Nijhuis (NED) took the win in 31.65 for a place in Budapest in August. Next home: Jennie Johansson (SWE) and Kersin Vogel (GER), on 31.71 and 32.07 respectively. The 50m backstroke was Dutch sprinter Hinkelien Schreuder's in 28.80, with Jenny Mensing (GER) on 29.63 and Anja van der Hout (NED) on 29.88.

Go to www.zwemkroniek.com for a full set of official results