Shymanovich Wins 50 Breast, Comes Close to PB, in Belarus Day 3

2022 BELARUSIAN OPEN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• April 5-9, 2022
• Brest, Belarus
• Long Course Meters (50 meters)
• Television Information
• Live Results
• Day 1 recap
• Day 2 recap

Ilya Shymanovich won his specialty the 50 breaststroke on Thursday, day 3 of the Belarusian National Championships, giving him two individual wins and a relay victory so far this week.

First in the semifinals, Shymanovich swam 26.70, missing his own personal best and Belarusian Record of 26.46. Later in the session, he swam 26.84 – still enough to win the race by over a second, though slightly slower than we saw in semifinals (which has been a common pattern this week in the twice-in-one-session format at Belarusian Nationals).

The country’s other major star, Anastaia Shkurdai, also swam on Thursday. She led the field in the women’s 100 fly semifinals in 58.45. Already a major player in the ISL at only 19 years old, that time ranks her 12th in the world in the 201-2022 season. Her lifetime best is 56.95.

Anastasia Kuliashova qualified 2nd in 59.22.

Other Day 3 Winners:

• 18-year old Ivan Adamchuk won the men’s 200 back in 2:00.21, which is within a second of his lifetime best in the event.
• After a 48.9 in the semifinals on Wednesday, Ruslan Skomorshko added a few tenths, but still won the men’s 100 free in 49.36. The only other swimmer under 50 was Grigori Pekarski in 49.69. Pekarski’s best time prior to this week was 50.38.
• Anna Chudina won the women’s 50 backstroke in 29.78.
• Alesya Ignatovich won the women’s 200 free in 2:07.10. She’s only 16 years old.
• Another teenager, Alesya Akinchits, won the women’s 1500 free by a minute and 10 seconds in 16:48.63. That leaves her just 8 seconds away from the Belarusian Record that has stood since 1982. Her previous best time in the event was 17:05.81, so that Thursday swim marked a 17 seconds improvement. She is the Belarusian Junior Record holder in the 400, 800, and 1500 freestyles.
• Minsk won the men’s 800 free relay in 7:38.47, swimming without their star Ilya Shymanovich on relays for the second straight day. Shymanovich is not primarily a 200 freestyle, but his 1:48.19 personal best still would have been faster than anybody swam on any of the 7 relays on Thursday.
• Brest won the women’s 400 medley relay by a narrow .26 seconds, aided by a 1:00.36 leadoff split from Shkurdai. That gave the team a six second lead on the field, which Minsk slowly realed back in, but ultimately ran out of room.

Team Scores After Day 3