Kameneva Clocks Two Russian Records At 2022 Vladimir Salnikov Cup

2022 VLADIMIR SALNIKOV CUP

• December 16th – December 20th
• St. Petersburg, Russia
• SCM (25m)
• Results

For the 16th time, the Vladimir Salnikov Cup took place in St. Petersburg, with many of Russia’s top athletes taking to the water after having been banned from international competitions such as this year’s Short Course World Championships.

The Russian ban extends to both FINA and LEN competition after the country invaded Ukraine earlier this year and committed multiple human rights violations, but FINA is still recognizing times from domestic competitions.

Maria Kameneva took full advantage of the racing opportunity, putting up two Russian national records during the course of the competition.

First, the 23-year-old posted a winning time of 23.34 in the women’s 50m freestyle, beating the field by over half a second en route to gold.

Entering this meet, Kameneva’s personal best rested at the 23.35 she registered at the Solidary Games just last month. As such, her result here sliced .01 off of that previous mark to score a new national record.

Kameneva would have been rendered the silver medalist had she produced this 23.34 in Melbourne. She now ranks #3 in the world this season.

The next event to fall victim to Kameneva was the women’s 100m back. Kameneva stopped the clock at a speedy time of 55.83. That not only obliterated the previous meet record of 56.76, but it also overtook the previous Russian standard of 56.10 she put on the books at the 2019 European Championships.

Opening in 26.73 and bringing it home in 29.10, Kameneva now checks in as the 19th fastest performer all-time in this women’s 1back event and her 55.83 outing would have just missed the Melbourne podium.

Although not a national record, Kamaneva did produce a meet record en route to winning women’s 50m back gold. She checked in with an effort of 25.68 to get under the previous meet mark of 26.15 she held herself.

Ilya Borodin got things started off right, firing off a championship record on night 1. The 19-year-old produced a time of 3:57.88 to take the men’s 400m IM gold, earning the only sub-4:00 time of the field.

Borodin actually first logged the meet record in the morning, hitting a heats time of 4:05.28 to overtake Hungarian Laszlo Cseh’s previous standard of 4:05.69 from 2013. But Borodin had more in the tank, hacking over 7 seconds off of his AM swim to easily defeat the field in his 3:57.88, the 2nd fastest time of his career.

Borodin owns a personal best of 3:56.47 in this event, a time he threw down en route to taking the silver medal behind winner Daiya Seto of Japan at the 2021 Short Course World Championships. Had Borodin hit his 3:57.88 this year in Melbourne, the teen would have brought home the bronze.

Belarusian athlete Anastasiya Shkurdai also took to the St. Petersburg pool, producing a time of 2:02.50 to take the women’s 200m back. Opening at 1:00.84 and closing at 1:01.66, Shkurdai’s time here represents the 3rd fastest time of her career.

Shkurdai would also wind up taking the women’s 100m IM in a time of 59.07, the only sub-1:00 time of the field.

Versatile Kliment Kolesnikov was the quickest 50m freestyler for the men, reaping gold in a final time of 20.93. That marked the only sub-21 second outing of the field, as Daniil Markov was next to the wall in 21.31.

22-year-old Kolesnikov was also the fastest man in the 100m freestyle, posting a result of 45.97 to get his hand on the wall first. Kolesnikov split 21.72/24.25 to get the job done in a time just .26 shy of the championship record.

Kolesnikov did achieve championship record status, however, in the men’s 50m back. He touched in a time of 22.44 to get to the wall half a second ahead of the field while also erasing the former meet standard of 22.49 Mark Nikolaev put on the books last year.

The men’s 100m breast saw Kirill Prigoda get it done for gold, producing a winning effort of 56.97. He doubled up with a victory on the 200m distance as well, hitting a new championship record of 2:01.50 in that event.

Prigoda’s personal best in the 1breast is represented by the 56.02 he logged in 2017 while he is the reigning World Record holder in the 2breast with a PB of 2:00.16. Melbourne’s 200m breast final saw Seto threaten the latter mark, putting up a time of 2:00.35 to win the gold.

The women’s 100m breaststroke saw a battle between Evgenia Chikunova and Tatiana Belonogoff, with both competitors posting a time in the 1:04-zone. Chikunova ultimately got to the wall first in a result of 1:04.31 while Belonogoff settled for silver in 1:04.96.

Chikunova has been as quick as 1:03.53 in her carer, although this time from St. Petersburg checks in as her 3rd best ever. For Belonogoff, who used to represent Great Britain, her outing here checks in as the 5th fastest effort of her carer.

Chikunova also topped the 200m breast podium in style, generating a new meet record in the process. The 18-year-old posted a winning result of 2:17.61 to get to the wall nearly 2 seconds ahead of the field.

Her outing surpassed the 2:17.71 meet record she held herself, as well as would have grabbed the bronze at this year’s Short Course World Championships. Chikunova owns the Russian national record with the 2:14.70 she scorched at the Solidarity Games last month.

Additional Winners

• Alexander Kudashev topped the men’s 200m fly podium in a time of 1:51.49, while the women’s race saw Anastasia Markova get it done for gold in 2:06.46.
• Anna Chernysheva grabbed the top prize in the women’s 400m IM, touching the wall in a mark of 4:42.24.
• The men’s 100m fly saw Andrei Minakov get under the 50-second threshold, stopping the clock in a solid 49.79. That checks in as the 20-year-old’s 4th fastest performance.
• Borodin also topped the men’s 200m IM podium with a winning time of 1:53.44, just .02 off the fastest time of his career.
• Ivan Girev posted a time of 1:41.25 to win the men’s 200m free, while Valeria Salamatina got it done for the women in 1:55.78.
• The men’s 50m fly saw Oleg Kostin produce a winning mark of 22.21 to come within .11 of his own meet record. Arina Surkova took the women’s race in 25.10, off her PB of 24.84 from this season.