MOSCOW, Russia, April 22. AFTER first claiming the women's 100 free national record, Veronika Popova returned in the women's 200 free with another Russian standard at the Russian Long Course Championships held in Moscow.
Popova raced to victory in 1:56.94, crushing the previous record of 1:57.96 set by Yelena Sokolova during the semifinal round of the 2009 World Championships in Rome. Popova also moved up to 13th in the world rankings this year with the effort. Sokolova wound up taking second tonight in 2:00.00, while Viktoria Andreyeva earned third in 2:01.55.
Meanwhile, Anastasia Zueva shined in the women's 100 back with a sterling time of 59.51 in the semifinal round. That performance moved her to second in the world rankings this year behind only Aya Terakawa's 59.17 from earlier this month.
Nikolay Skvortsov snagged the men's 200 fly crown in 1:56.43, while Sergei Ivanov touched second in 2:00.04. Skvortsov improved to 11th in the world rankings with the swim. Roman Mikhailov rounded out the top three in 2:00.13.
Ekaterina Seliverstova won the women's 1500 free in 16:32.94, while Anastasia Ivanenko placed second in 16:32.97 in an exciting finish. Elizaveta Gorshkova wound up third in 16:35.09.
Irina Bespalova captured the women's 100 fly title in 58.99 to move into the top 25 in the world rankings. Maria Ugolkova touched second in 1:00.21, while Yulia Mantseva earned third in 1:00.29.
In relay action, Alyona Golubeva, Anna Kyzmichova, Bespalova and Popova won the women's 400 medley relay in 4:07.05.
In semifinals, Aleksandr Tikhonov paced the men's 200 IM in 2:01.95, while Irina Novikova led the way in the women's 200 breast with a 2:27.81.
Stanislav Lakhtyukhov moved into the top 20 in the men's 100 breast rankings with a top-seeded 1:01.33, while Andrei Grechin closed in on the top 15 in the men's 100 free with a leading 48.90.
Special thanks to Priscilla Trillo for contributing to this report.