Kliment Kolesnikov Goes 52.04 in Deep 100 Back at Russian Championships
Kliment Kolesnikov clocked in at 52.04 seconds on Monday at the Russian Championships, winning a deep event for a nation proving it is still among the backstroking powers.
The 24-year-old, who won silver in this event at the Tokyo Olympics, was .09 seconds ahead of his teammate, Miron Lifintsev, second in 52.15. Kolesnikov was within reach of his national record of 51.82, set in 2023.
Kolesnikov and the bulk of the Russian program didn’t take part in the Paris Olympics in 2024, the nation in international exodus for its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But the talent has still been growing, even away from view of the greater swimming world.
Five swimmers on Monday were under the A standard for the 2025 World Championships in Singapore. That group didn’t include Evgeny Rylov, the Tokyo Olympic champion eliminated in the semifinals by going 54.96. Behind Kolesnikov and Lifintsev was Pavel Samusenko in 52.40. All three were under 53 seconds in prelims as well.
That race came on the second day of the Russian Championships in Kazan, one of several stellar races to open the six-day meet.
On the men’s side, Kirill Prigoda remains the national champion in the 100 breaststroke with his time of 59.40. He saw off a challenge from Danil Semyaninov by .25 seconds. Both are under the Worlds auto qualifying standard.
Egor Babinich won the men’s 400 freestyle in 3:48.71, just off the A cut. He was followed by Nikolai Kolesnikov in 3:49.16, with Roman Kotov another second back in third place. Ilya Borodin claimed a thriller of a 200 individual medley by going 1:56.56 to outlast the 1:58.92 of Alexey Sudarev.
Evgeniia Chikunova outdueled Yulia Efimova in a battle of established powers in the women’s 50 breast. Chikunova went 30.72, besting Efimova by .11 seconds. Only Chikunova is under the Worlds A cut, though.
Sofia Dyakova went 8:24.93 to win the 800 freestyle, one of three swimmers under the Worlds cut. The 17-year-old downed the Russian junior record set by Ksenia Misharina in 2024 at 8:25.08. Misharina was second in 8:28.69, also under the Worlds cut of 8:34.62. Anna Egorova went 8:29.47 to finish third. (Misharina had the fastest swim in the 800 free relay with her lead-off leg of 1:58.30 on Sunday.)
Alina Gayfutdinova won the women’s 50 back in 27.62 seconds, a time that is under the World Cups. She was well clear of Maria Osterova, who was second in 28.26. At 20, Gayfutdinova was the oldest of the top five, which included 16-year-old Milana Stepanova in third in 28.48. Veteran Daria Ustinova was sixth.
Serafima Fokina won a relatively slower 200 fly in 2:10.46. She bested veteran Svetlana Chimrova, who finished second in 2:11.62.
On the opening day of the meet, Mikhail Dovgalyuk won the men’s 200 free in a great race, going 1:47.39. He just edged out Ivan Girev and Roman Akimov, who tied for second in 1:47.45. (Girev anchored Moscow’s second-place 400 free relay in 47.88 later in the session.)
Anastasia Zvyagintseva went 4:42.52 to win the women’s 400 individual medley, a time under the Worlds A standard of 4:43.06.
