12-Year Old Russian Alexandra Sabitova Swims :59 in 100 Fly

2017 RUSSIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Monday, April 10 – Friday, April 14, 2017
• Moscow, Russia
• Live results

While she didn’t win the race, and probably hasn’t even earned a spot on the Russian World Championships team, the most exciting result on the women’s side of the pool came from the 3rd-place finisher in the women’s 100 fly.

That came in the form of 12-year old Alexandra Savitova, born in 2004 – the youngest age even eligible for this championship. She swam a 59.42 in the women’s 100 fly. By comparison, the fastest 11-12 in U.S. swimming history, Cassidy Bayer, swam a 1:01.75 in 2012 – more than two seconds slower. The fastest 13-14 in U.S. history, Kendy Stewart, swam just a 59.51 in 2009 – in a rubber suit. Savitova is already faster than that.

She split 27.33 going out and 32.09 coming home – a big charge on the front-half, before a small fade on the back-side. That split on the opening 50 was faster than she did in the individual 50 fly, where she finished 13th in 27.76.

We were unable to find any prior times from Savitova. She comes from the Kemerovo Region in central Russia.

Savitova is not yet old enough to compete at the Youth Olympic Games, the European Junior Championships, or the World Junior Championships, so we’ll keep an eye on domestic results for her encore.