Lifincev Slices .02 Off Kolesnikov’s 50 Back European Jr Record At Salnikov Cup

2023 VLADIMIR SALNIKOV CUP

• Saturday, December 16th – Monday, December 18th
• St. Petersburg, Russia
• SCM (25m)
• Results

The 2023 Vladimir Salnikov Cup is taking place in St. Petersburg, Russia through Monday, December 18th. As the European Short Course Championships disallowed Russian and Belarusian swimmers from participating, this 3-day competition caps off the season for some of the nation’s best performers.

Day 1 Highlights

Ilya Borodin put up an impressive performance in the men’s 400m IM to kick off his campaign on day one. The 20-year-old fired off a time of 3;58.21 to beat the field by over 5 seconds, producing a result that would have taken the silver in Romania.

Borodin’s effort checks in as the 3rd-fastest of his career, one which boasts a lifetime best of 3:56.47 from when he took silver at the 2021 Short Course World Championships.

His time here overtook his previous season-best of 3:59.50 from last month’s Russian Short Course Championships, keeping him ranked #2 in the world.

Olympic champion Evgeny Rylov made his presence known in the 200m back, with the 27-year-old logging a gold medal-worthy time of 1:49.26.

That held a healthy advantage over Dmitry Savenko who earned runner-up status in 1:50.51 while Fedor Esin rounded out the podium in 1:51.88.

Rylov’s result beat the 1:50.20 he put up at the Russian Short Course Championships.

Belarus’ breaststroking maestro Ilya Shymanovich was too quick to catch in the men’s 50m sprint. The 29-year-old posted a time of 25.59 to take the gold, establishing a new meet record in the process. That also beat his season-best of 25.72 logged last month and he now wears the world rakings crown.

Settling for silver was Oleg Kostin who notched 25.79 for a new PB by .01 while Danil Semyaninov also landed on the podium in 26.28.

A pair of Russian Youth Records bit the dust on day one, both in mid-distance freestyle events.

Saveliy Luzin downed the men’s 400m free mark, ripping a lifetime best of 3:40.84. Then Ksenia Misharina accomplished the same feat in the women’s 800m free, with the teen producing a winning effort of 8:15.85. That also checked in as a new Cup Record to boot.

Additional Day 1 Results

• Egor Pavlov reaped gold in the men’s 200m fly in a time of 1:52.42 while Svetlana Chimrova topped the women’s 2fly podium in 2:07.58.
• The women’s 400m IM saw Irina Krivonogova get to the wall first in 4:35.02, beating the field by over 3 seconds.
• Anastasia Osipenko was too quick to catch in the women’s 200m back, hitting 2:07.34 as the gold medalist. Only .37 behind, however, was Anastasia Duplinksaia who notched 2:07.71 as the runner-up.
• The men’s 50m free saw a tight battle to the wall, with Egor Kornev winding up there first. Kornev nabbed 21.15 while Kliment Kolesnikov and Roman Shevlyakov both touched in 21.20 as co-silver medalists.
• Maria Kameneva snagged the top spot in the women’s 50m free in 23.64. Arina Surkova and Daria Trofimova both landed on the podium as well, with respective results of 23.98 and 24.28. Kamaneva’s result would have rendered her the silver medalist at this year’s European Short Course Championships.
• Olympic medalist Yuliya Efimova was also in the water, grabbing gold in the women’s 50m breast. The 31-year-old posted a mark of 29.76 to lead a trio of sub-30-second swimmers. Nika Godun was next in 29.85 and Evgenia Chikunova logged 29.98.

Day 2 Highlights

Shymanovich was back in action on day two, firing off another Vladimir Salnikov Cup Record en route to 100m breast gold in impressive fashion.

The Belarusian stopped the clock in a time of 55.63 to beat the field by nearly a second. Kirill Prigoda scored silver in 56.58 and Semyaninov was right there as well in 56.86.

Shymanovich owns a lifetime best of 55.28 in this event, a time which remains as the World Record from 2021. The ace was less than half a second off of that with his victory here. He now ranks #1 in the world to double up on his 50m breast.

Chikunova notched a new meet record of her own, with the 19-year-old topping the women’s 100m breast podium in 1:03.76.

That checks in as the teen’s 2nd-best performance ever, sitting only behind her 1:03.53 put up in November of 2022. At last month’s Russian Short Course Championships, she put up a title-winning 1:03.80, so she sliced .04 off that for a new season-best.

Efimova settled for silver this time around in 1:04.90 while Godun bagged bronze in 1:05.40.

Andrei Minakov was a two-time winner on day two, claiming gold in both the 100m fly and 100m free races.

In the former, Minakov clocked 49.64 as one of two sub-50-second swimmers. Shevlyakov joined him in 49.82 and Mikhail Vekovischev ranked 3rd in 50.60.

Minakov’s result would have rendered the former Stanford Cardinal the bronze medalist in Romania. He’s now the #3 performer in the world this season.

The 100m free saw Minakov touch in a result of 46.17, a big-time new personal best.

Entering this competition, Minakov’s career-quickest rested at the 46.56 produced at last year’s national short course championships.

Kornev snagged silver in 46.44 and Dmitry Zhavoronkov was the bronze medalist here in 46.77.

Both the men’s and women’s 50m backstroke sprints saw Russian Youth Records bite the dust.

In the men’s, Miron Lifincev took silver in 22.75 for a new record. That also sliced .02 off of Kolesnikov’s European Junior Record of 22.77, although we’re checking into whether or not this will be officially recognized.

K2 took the gold in 22.42, overtaking his previous season-best of 22.55 which already ranked him #1, and Pavel Samusenko rounded out the top 3 in 22.78.

Winning the women’s 50m back was Arina Khiteva, establishing a new youth record of 26.46. That scorched the teen’s previous PB of 27.50 from last year and eked out the victory over Kamaneva who earned silver in 26.49. Alexandra Kurilkina was next to the wall in 26.64 for bronze.

Additional Day 2 Winners

• Daria Klepikova topped the women’s 100m fly podium in 57.45, getting the edge over Chimrova who settled for silver in 57.69. Anastasia Markova rounded out the top 3 in 58.19.
• Alexey Sudarev reaped gold in the men’s 100m IM in 52.48, the sole swimmer to get under the 53-second threshold.
• The women’s 100m IM was taken by Maria Kameneva in 58.13, a winning time by over a second.
• Daria Trofimova scored the victory in the women’s 100m free in 52.84 while Anna Egorova topped the 400m free podium in 4:03.09.
• Kirill Martynychev got it done for gold in the men’s 1500m free in 14:31.32.