Big Stars Descend on Russia for Salnikov Cup

Lots of big names are coming to St. Petersburg, Russia this weekend for the 2012 Vladimir Salnikov Cup that will be held Friday and Saturday in honor of the man who broke 12 World Records in his career and is the current president of the Russian Federation.

A big group of swimmers are taking advantage of the opportunity to piggy-back off of the recent World Championships in nearby Istanbul to go to this meet that has big cash prizes:

• Winners: RUB 20,000 ($660)
• Second-Place: RUB 15,000 ($500)
• Third-Place: RUB 10,000 ($330)

In special recognition of Salnikov’s talents (he was a distance freestyler), the men’s 1500 free will have an even bigger prize:

• Winner: RUB 50,000 ($1,660)
• Second-Place: RUB 20,000 ($660)
• Third-Place: RUB 15,000 ($500)

Plus a bonus of roughly $3,000 for a European Record or $10,000 for a World Record (both of which are quite possible coming so quickly off of the World Championships). There is also an open-ended category for any swimmer who shows “an outstanding result” as they “may be awarded a special prize.” Swimmers of the meet get about $3,330 as well.

The temperatures are freezing in Russia; at the time of posting it is 7 degrees farenheit, but that shouldn’t prevent some fast swims given how many stars are in town for the meet. Among those confirmed are:

• George Bovell (T&T)
• Hannah Miley (Great Britain)
• Vlad Morozov (Russia)
• Stanislav Donets (Russia)
• Melania Costa-Schmid (Spain)
• Henrique Martins (Brazil)
• Bruno Fratus (Brazil – didn’t swim Worlds)
• Jessica Hardy (USA)
• Dominik Meichtry (Switzerland)

The meet has a few interesting twists, like 400 IM’s that can be swum in any order, and overall should be a great encore to Worlds.