At the Dutch Open National Championships in Eindhoven this past weekend, which serves as the first Olympic qualifier for the Netherlands, there was a great group of European swimmers in attendance. The results were shiningly spectacular, with a ton of Championship Records going down, and even some huge National marks.

Sarah Sjostrom had a strong meet a week ago at Swedish Nationals, where she seemed to break a record of some sort with every swim. But she wasn’t done, as she jetted to nearby Eindhoven and continued to bring up some huge versatility.

She won the 100 free in 53.05, which is by nearly a second the fastest time of her career. That clears the Swedish National Record that was previously held by Therese Alshammar from the 2009 World Championships in 53.58.

Sjostrom’s time would have won the World Championships title this last year by four-tenths (it’s the fastest in the world in 2011) and in terms of all-time rankings moves her from 33rd all the way to 6th (and is an all-time textile best). With the Dutch women faltering at last year’s World Championships, the race was lacking a swimmer who felt like a true Olympic champion, but with that swim Sjostrom becomes the favorite.

On day 2, she undertook a tough double in a pair of events that she seems to be a bit closer to maxed out in than she is in the sprint freestyles. She started her day off with a 57.32, which just missed her time from Worlds, and ended it with a runner-up swim in 1:57.21. Dutch swimmer Femke Heemskerk crushed a championship record with a 1:56.76 victory to earn a qualifying time for the London Olympics.

And as we continue to work backwards through Sjostrom’s meet, on day 1 in the 50 free she swam a lifetime best and a new Swedish Junior Record of 24.75.

Unfortunately, this is the Netherlands, and in the Netherlands 24.75 doesn’t win 50 freestyles. The top spot went to Ranomi Kromowidjojo in 24.30, which is just .03 away from her season-best time. Marleen Veldhuis took 2nd in 24.39, which is a tenth off of her season-best time (but still left her 3rd in the world).

On the men’s side of the competition, there were a serious of strong swims, though none were quite as world-beating as the ones discussed on the women’s side. France’s Camille Lacourt swept the 50 and 100 back in 24.96/53.71.

Job Kienhuis was the best performer of the Dutch men. He swam a 14:58.34 that breaks the Netherlands National Record. That’s 7-seconds better than his previous career-best (which was also previously the National Record). That ranks him 10th in the world this year as he really moves into the elite air of distance swimming.

To put Kienhuis’ time in context, in 2010 his best was a 15:24. That’s a massive improvement for him.

Dutch swimmer Sebastiaan Verschuren swam an Olympic qualifying time (the Netherlands has faster marks than those set by FINA and the IOC) in the 100 free with a 48.60 win. He has a strong World Championship meet in this 100 free to add on to his superior 200 freestyle.

France’s Florent Manaudou, who is trying to find his way onto the Olympic Team (a 100 fly better than the 54.56 he went in prelims would have been appreciated), was 3rd in the 100 free in 49.40. The Italians have a long way to go before next weekend’s European Short Course Championships, as none of their men’s 100 free crew went faster than a 50.2 in this race (Luca Leonardi).

In the men’s 100 fly, Evgeny Korotyshkin broke a Championship Record with a 52.11 100 fly. That’s a very strong mid-season swim for her in the buildup to the Russian Olympic Trials.

And finally, in the men’s 200 breaststroke, Britain’s Michael Jamieson cleared his career-best time by .02 with a 2:10.40.

Full meet results available here.