A Day After Crushing 50 Back WR, Kliment Kolesnikov Wins Double Gold At Swim Cup Of Russia
Kliment Kolesnikov won double gold to make it three titles so far at the Swim Cup of Russia in Kazan.
The meet features swimmers from Russia and Belarus who are banned from the international stage following the invasion of Ukraine and coincides with the World Championships in Fukuoka.
Kolesnikov obliterated the WR on Thursday as he took 0.16 off Hunter Armstrong’s 23.71 mark in 23.55.
The two-time Olympic medallist returned on Friday for the final where he swam 23.68 – the second-fastest in history – en-route to gold.
That was followed by gold in the 50 free in 21.76, the second-swiftest of his career and 0.07 outside his 21.69 PB from the 2022 Russian Championships.
Kolesnikov won the 100 back on day two in 51.82, the second-fastest performance in history, and will next compete in the prelims of the 100 free on Saturday morning, in which he won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.
Evgeniia Chikunova split 31.05/34.41 to win the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.46, a time that would have secured silver in Fukuoka where Ruta Meilutyte won in 1:04.62.
Kirill Prigoda completely dominated the men’s 200 breaststroke final as he enjoyed a 3.79sec winning margin in 2:07.62.
Arina Surkova won the 50 fly in 25.65, Sofia Dyakova took the 400 free title in 4:07.82 and Yana Shakirova the 200IM (2:13.90).
A Moscow quartet won the men’s 4×2 in 7:09.29.
In semifinal action, Maria Kameneva booked lane four for the 100 back final in 59.40 as she seeks her third title following gold in the 50 back and 100 free.
Roman Shevlyakov was swiftest in the 50 fly (23.05)