Kolesnikov Doubles, Zhikharev Hits 51.0 100 Fly On Day 3 of Russian Swimming Cup

2023 SWIMMING CUP OF RUSSIA

• Tuesday, July 25 – Sunday, July 30, 2023
• Kazan, Russia
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Live Results

Kliment Kolesnikov once again stole the show on the third night of action at the 2023 Swimming Cup of Russia in Kazan, following up the #2 swim in history in the 100 back with a new world record in the 50 back.

After rocketing to a time of 51.82 in the 100-meter event on Wednesday, the 23-year-old Russian smashed the world record in the 50 back on Thursday, clocking 23.55 in the semi-finals to knock 16 one-hundredths off the previous mark set by American Hunter Armstrong (23.71) last year.

Despite facing an elite field that included five other men breaking 25 seconds, Kolesnikov qualified more than a second ahead of the next fastest competitor, which was Pavel Samusenko at 24.61. Miron Lifintsev (24.73) was third and Evgeny Rylov (24.74) moved through in fourth.

Read more on Kolesnikov world’s record here.

The swim was actually Kolesnikov’s second of the night, as he kicked the session off by leading the men’s 50 free semis in 21.78, within a tenth of his lifetime best set in 2022 (21.69).

Nikita Chernousov set a PB to qualify second in 22.21, while Egor Kornev (22.22) was third.

The men’s 100 fly featured an elite field with six swimmers 51.84 or faster, and it was Petr Zhikharev, who broke 51 seconds for the first time in April (50.88), earning the victory in a time of 51.06.

Zhikharev was followed by Roman Shevlyakov, who set a new best time in 51.18, while Andrei Minakov rounded out the podium in 51.38.

Minakov, who set a season-best of 51.23 in April, didn’t have the early speed but was the only swimmer in the field to close sub-27 (26.88).

Maria Kameneva followed up her victory in the 50 back by claiming the women’s 100 free in a time of 53.93, fending off youngsters Daria Trofimova (18) and Daria Klepikova (17) who clocked 54.02 and 54.07, respectively, to set new best times.

Klepikova was in action earlier in the session in the semis of the women’s 50 fly, where she qualified second into the final in 26.00, trailing Russian Record holder Arina Surkova (25.86).

Also picking up individual wins on the night were Anastasiya Shkurdai and Alexander Stepanov.

Shkurdai, a Belarusian, won the women’s 200 back in a time of 2:08.76, topping runner-up Renata Gaynullina (2:11.57) by nearly three seconds. Shkurdai owns a PB of 2:06.95 set in April.

In the men’s 800 free, Stepanov rolled to the win in 7:49.86, leading Kirill Martynychev (7:53.97).

Stepanov swam to a massive personal best and a new Russian Record of 7:42.47 in April.

In the women’s 100 breast semis, 200-meter world record holder Evgeniia Chikunova cruised to the top seed in 1:05.97, and she was followed by Tatiana Belonogoff (1:06.86) and Alina Zmushka (1:06.89).

Chikunova set a new personal best of 1:04.92 at the Russian Championships in April.

The night closed with the mixed 400 free relay, where St. Petersburg continued its run of success by touching first in a time of 3:26.01, with Egor Kornev (47.85) and Daria Ustinova (54.09) producing the fastest splits in the field for the squad.

We also saw some quick lead-off legs from Vladislav Grinev (48.21) and Andrei Minakov (48.61) for the second and third-place teams, Moscow and Tatarstan.