After being forced out of the Olympic Games due to COVID-19, rising Russian star Ilya Borodin appears to be back on top form.
Borodin, 18, blasted a new Russian National and European Junior Record in the men’s 400 individual medley (short course meters) during Match 4 of the 2021 International Swimming League (ISL) season, putting up a time of 3:59.57.
Borodin previously held both the Russian and Euro Junior records at 4:01.91, set at the 2020 Russian SC Championships this past December, and now catapults himself up from 21st to 12th in the event’s all-time rankings (according to the USA Swimming database).
He first grabbed hold of the Russian Record at the 2019 European Short Course Championships in Glasgow, clocking a time of 4:03.65 to erase the 2014 mark of 4:03.91 held by Semen Makovich
Splits Comparison
| Borodin, 2020 | Borodin, 2021 |
| 26.67 | 26.04 |
| 29.84 (56.51) | 29.56 (55.60) |
| 31.23 (1:27.74) | 30.92 (1:26.52) |
| 30.48 (1:58.22) | 30.32 (1:56.84) |
| 33.55 (2:31.77) | 33.45 (2:30.29) |
| 33.37 (3:05.14) | 33.87 (3:04.16) |
| 28.70 (3:33.84) | 28.11 (3:32.27) |
| 28.07 (4:01.91) | 27.30 (3:59.57) |
Representing the Aqua Centurions, Borodin won the event by more than four seconds in Match 4, outpacing teammate and reigning Olympic gold medalist Chase Kalisz, who took second in 4:03.65.
Borodin’s swim was also the first sub-4:00 of the 2021 ISL season. He placed first in Match 1 in a time of 4:02.67, and then world record holder Daiya Seto topped Match 2 in 4:01.10 for the Tokyo Frog Kings. NY Breaker Brendon Smith led Match 3 in 4:03.96.
Borodin came within half a second of Seto’s current World Junior record of 3:59.15, set at the 2012 SC World Championships in Istanbul.
Borodin is making his ISL debut this season, having been selected 71st by the Centurions during the inaugural ISL draft early in the summer.
The World Junior Record holder in the long course 400 IM, Borodin tested positive for COVID-19 during Russia’s final pre-Olympic training camp in late July, forcing him out of the Games where he was very much a factor for a medal.
The Bryansk, Russia native is the reigning European LC champion in the men’s 400 IM, and also owns silver medals in the event from the 2019 SC European Championships, 2019 World Junior Championships and the 2019 European Junior Championships.
Goat
That pic go hard
Just Imagine the potential if he would swim freestyle on the last leg instead of some breaststroke-lifesaver-hybrid