She may be just 17, but with a towering frame of over 6ft 3in and four European relay medals in her possession, Anderson is no longer ‘one for the future’.
Although those in the sport have known of her talent for some time, the world junior champion showed her ability to make an impact at senior level.
Holding off the charge of Russian male swimmer Vladimir Morozov in the 4x100m mixed medley relay and three further impressive last-leg performances in other relay events led to her being dubbed Freya ‘Anchor-son’.
However, a fourth place in the 100m freestyle event also demonstrated her potential for individual honours in the years ahead.
With Adam Peaty dominating and Duncan Scott, Ben Proud, Max Litchfield and James Guy continuing to bring in medals for the GB men there have been questions about why the women’s side has struggled to deliver such success.
Olympic silver medallist Siobhan Marie O’Connor is short of form and double Rio 2016 silver medallist Jazz Carlin has moved into open water events, but in Anderson Britain has a new female swimmer to be genuinely excited about.
Georgia Davies, Holly Hibbott and Imogen Clark are others to watch in the lead-up to Tokyo 2020 while Ben Proud’s time of 21.11 in the 50m freestyle was the quickest ever achieved without the aid of the now banned ‘super-suits’.