Kolesnikov, Krasnykh Hit SC Worlds Qualifying On Day 1 In Kazan

RUSSIAN SHORT COURSE SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• November 7-12, 2018
• Kazan, Russia
• SCM (25m)
• Palace of Water Sports
• SC World Qualifying Standards (In Russian)
• Start Lists / Live Results

Five swimmers hit the World Championship qualifying standards on day 1 of the 2018 Russian SC Nationals in Kazan, including European champions Kliment Kolesnikov and Aleksandr Krasnykh.

The qualifying procedures are complicated by the fact that the swimmers competing on the FINA World Cup circuit are absent and will have their results there count towards qualifying for SC Worlds. That includes Vlad Morozov, Anton Chupkov, Kirill Prigoda, Yuliya Efimova and Vitalina Simonova.

Kolesnikov took on a triple during the meet’s first finals session, swimming the men’s 100 back semis, the 200 IM final, and the 400 free relay.

He qualified 1st into the 100 back final in a time of 50.54, leading a competitive field that saw Evgeny Rylov (50.74), Andrey Shabasov (51.24), Grigory Tarasevich (51.66) and Nikita Babchenko (51.74) all break 52 seconds. The qualifying standard the swimmers will look to hit in the final is 49.99.

Kolesnikov then booked his ticket to SC Worlds with a win in the 200 IM, clocking 1:53.66 to get under the standard of 1:54.11 and beat out Semen Makovich (1:54.25). Kolesnikov, who holds a PB of 1:53.36, had the top fly split in the field at 24.35, and after Makovich took over the lead on the breast leg, charged home in 27.36 to seal the victory. Makovich also outsplit Kolesnikov on the back leg, 28.47 to 28.51.

At the end of the session, the Kaluga Region team of Sergey Fesikov (47.05), Andrey Abruzov (47.73), Mikhail Vekovischev (46.93) and Anton Voloshin (48.35) won in a time of 3:10.06, topping Moscow’s team of Andrey Zhilkin (47.47), Mikhail Dovgalyuk (47.48), Kolesnikov (48.87) and Vladislav Grinev (46.37) who clocked 3:10.19. 2017 World Junior champion Ivan Girev had a notable 46.78 split for the Moscow Region team that placed 6th.

Krasnykh, who won the 2017 European SC title in the 400 free, won that event in a time of 3:36.84 to easily slip under the qualifying time of 3:39.90. He edged out Martin Malyutin, who also got under the standard in 3:37.84.

Also hitting the qualifying times was Veronika Andrusenko and Aleksandr Kharlanov.

Andrusenko, who has won a medal in the women’s 200 free at four consecutive European Short Course Championships, won that event in a time of 1:53.57, fending off a late push from Anna Egorova (1:54.19). Andrusenko got under the standard of 1:53.66, and Egorova, Anastasia Guzhenkova (1:54.28) and Valeria Salamatina (1:55.12) will likely all be added to the team for the relay.

Kharlanov won the men’s 200 fly in 1:51.20, surpassing the standard of 1:51.82. The 2017 European champion topped Alexander Pribytok (1:52.04), Daniil Pakhomov (1:52.12) and Alexander Kudashev (1:52.31) who were in a very tight race for silver.

OTHER EVENTS

• Natalia Ivaneeva (30.12) led the way in the women’s 50 breast semis, with Maria Temnikova (30.66) and Nika Godun (30.69) 2nd and 3rd.
• Irina Krivonogova won the women’s 400 IM in 4:34.87 over Aleksandra Denisenko (4:36.78) and Anastasia Sorokina (4:37.52). They missed the qualifying time of 4:29.20.
• Oleg Kostin (57.22) qualified 1st into the men’s 100 breast final, followed by Danil Semyaninov (57.66) and Ilya Khomenko (57.86). The qualifying standard stands at 56.60, and Prigoda (56.61) and Chupkov (56.97) have both been sub-57 on the World Cup.
• Maria Kameneva (57.43) and Daria Ustinova (57.50) lead the women’s 100 back field into the final, with former LC World Champ Anastasia Fesikova (58.03) sitting 3rd.
• In the women’s 400 free relay, Kameneva anchored in 53.13 as St. Petersburg won in 3:34.64 over the Sverdlovsk Region (3:35.27), whose fastest leg came from Salamatina (53.52)