Russians (Finally) Reveal Squad for Short Course Worlds

The Russians have waited until nearly the last-minute to announce their 2012 Short Course World Championships roster, and there will be some small sighs of disappointment as the Russians are one leg short of putting together a medley relay that might challenge the Americans.

On the men’s side, Stanislav Donets is swimming hot in the sprint backstrokes, having dominated the FINA World Cup Series. Vlad Morozov is emerging as one of the best short course sprinters in the world after the European Championships. Vyacheslav Sinkevich is the country’s top breaststroker. There will be, however, no Evgeny Korotyshkin on the butterfly leg. As the defending silver medalist, even against short course star Tom Shields of the USA, that would have been their big secret weapon.

Still, all hope is not lost. Nikolay Skvortsov was himself very good on the World Cup, having gone under 51 seconds at the Moscow stop in October (where he beat Shields, just barely, head-to-head).

The breaststroke and freestyle legs then become the keys. The Americans have some great sprinters on their roster, but without Nathan Adrian, anchor duties will probably fall to either Anthony Ervin (more of a 50 meter specialist, though his 100 has been good this year) or Jimmy Feigen. Feigen used to beat Morozov routinely at the NCAA level in short course, but Morozov is now swimming at a whole different level than he was then and is by a full second the fastest 100 freestyler in the world this year in short course.

The American difference maker will probably come from a new place, Arizona’s Kevin Cordes. This is his first major international team, and he’s now the fastest 100 yard breaststroker in US history. Then again, Sinkevich (at 21) is very good in short course and final’ed at the European Championships.

On the women’s side, the star is and continues to be Veronika Popova, at least when Olympic medalists Yulia Efimova and Anastasia Zueva aren’t on the roster. The women’s roster will be supplemented by a whole lot of youth, including 15-year-old Rosalia Nasretdinova (sometimes spelled Rozaliya if you’re looking), who is already a 24.53 in the 50 meter short course freestyle.

In total, the roster will be 28: 16 men and 12 women. The Russians have been hit pretty hard by the injury bug since the Olympics, so they’ll hope to get through this meet healthy. They are usually very, very good in these short course Worlds meets; in 2010, 4 golds, 4 silvers, and 2 bronze put them 2nd to only the USA on the medals table.

Men

1. Andrusenko Vyacheslav (1992, MSIC, St. Petersburg) – 200 m IM, 200 m / free,
2. Geibel Sergey (1981, weathering, Novosibirsk Region) – 50 m breaststroke,
3. Stanislav Donets   (1983, ZMS , Ulyanovsk region – Krasnodar) – 50 m and 100 m backstroke,
4. Dmitry Ermakov (1993, MS, Moscow) – 4×200 m / free,
5. Dmitry Zhilin (1990, MSIC, Moscow) – 100 m and 200 m IM,
6. Evgeny Koptelov (1993, MSIC, Volgograd Region) – 50 m and 200 m butterfly,
7. Evgeny Lagunov (1985, weathering, St. Petersburg – Arkhangelsk Region) – 50 m and 100 m / freestyle,
8 . Anton Lobanov (1992, MSIC, Novosibirsk Region) – 50 m, 100 m and 200 m breaststroke,
9. Artem Lubuzov (1991, MSIC, Moscow) – 200 m / freestyle,
10. Vladimir Morozov (1992, weathering, Volgograd area) – 100 m backstroke of 50 m and 100 m / freestyle,
11. Mikhail Polishchuk (1989, weathering, Moscow) – 400 m / style,
12. Prudnikov Vyacheslav (1993, MSIC, St. Petersburg) – 50 m and 100 m butterfly,
13. Celine Alexander (1988, MSIC, Moscow) – 400 m and 1500 m / free,
14. Vyacheslav Sinkevich (1991, MSIC, Volgograd Region) – 100 m and 200 m breaststroke,
15. Nikolay Skvortsov (1984, weathering, Kaluga region) – 100 m and 200 m butterfly,
16. Andrew Schabas  (1994, MS, St. Petersburg) – 50 m, 100 m and 200 m backstroke.

Women

1. Valentine Artemyev  (1986, ZMS , Novosibirsk Region) – 50 m and 100 m breaststroke,
2. Daria Belyakina  (1986, MSIC, Moscow region) – 200 m and 200 m set in / style,
3. Svetlana Knyaginin  (1984, MSIC, St. Petersburg) – 50 m / style,
4. Christina Krasyukova  (1995, MSIC, Rostov Region) – 100 m, 200 m and 400 m complex,
5. Pauline Lapshin (1995, MSIC, Sverdlovsk region) – 50 m, 100 m and 200 m back,
6. Rosalia Nasretdinova (1997, MS, Moscow) – 50 m butterfly, 50 m / style,
7. Veronika Popova (1991, MSIC, St. Petersburg) – 100 m and 200 m butterfly, 100 and 200 m / style,
8. Vitalina Simonova (1992, MSIC, Novosibirsk Region) – 50 m and 200 m breaststroke, 100 m complex
9. Yelena Sokolova (1991, MSIC, Moscow) – 400 m / style,
10. Maria Temnikova ( 1995, International Master of Sports, Moscow) – 100 m and 200 m breaststroke,
11. Daria Tsvetkova (1995, MSIC, Altay) – 50 m and 100 m butterfly,
12. Xenia Yuskova  (1996, MSIC, Moscow) – 100 m and 400 m / style.