Evgeniia Chikunova Swims 2:20.41 200 Breast, Kliment Kolesnikov Wins Twice at Russian Solidarity Games
With Russian athletes in almost every sport currently banned from international competition (including last month’s FINA World Championships) following the nation’s invasion of Ukraine, many Russian (and Belarussian) swimmers are competing this week at the Solidarity Games in Kazan. Those in action over the first two days of the meet include 100 backstroke Olympic silver medalist and 100 freestyle bronze medalist Kliment Kolesnikov and former 200 breaststroke world-record holder Anton Chupkov, but the top performance so far came from a 17-year-old who missed winning a medal at the Tokyo Olympics by four hundredths.
Evgeniia Chikunova put up a mark of 2:20.41 in the women’s 200 breaststroke. That beat her best time of 2:20.57 set last year and moved her ahead of Leisel Jones for ninth-fastest in history. Notably, Chikunova’s time was two seconds faster than American Lilly King swam to capture the world title in the event last month. In the same event, Mariia Temnikova swam a mark of 2:23.16 for second place, and that time would also have been fast enough for a medal at the World Championships.
Kolesnikov won the 100 back Thursday in 52.58, more than a half-second off his best time of 52.00, and he added another victory in the 100 free Friday with a time of 47.97. Kolesnikov went 47.11 in the event to set the European record last year. Vladislav Grinev, the bronze medalist in the 100 free at the 2019 World Championships, placed second in that event in 48.71.
In the men’s 200 breast, Chupkov came from behind to edge out countryman Kirill Prigoda, 2:07.19 to 2:07.25. The only swimmer to go quicker so far in 2022 was Australia’s Zac Stubblety-Cook, who broke Chupkov’s world record in May before following that up with a world title. Also swimming a time fast enough to win a medal at the recent World Championships was Oleg Kostin, who recorded a mark of 22.78 in the 50 fly that matched Nicholas Santos’ silver-medal-winning time.
Aleksandr Kudashev recorded an elite time of 1:54.56 in the men’s 200 fly to jump to eighth in the world for 2022, while Ilia Borodin clocked a time of 1:58.30 in the men’s 200 IM.
Also earning wins Friday were Anna Egorova in the women’s 400 free (4:07.76) and Kirill Martynychev in the men’s 1500 free (14:55.79). In Thursday’s action, Elena Bogomolova took first in the women’s 50 breast (30.75), and Mariia Kameneva won the women’s 100 free (53.48) while Svetlana Chimrova paced the field in the women’s 200 fly (2:09.11). Anastasiya Shkurdai, a visitor from Belarus, won the women’s 200 back (2:09.38), while the men’s 400 free saw Aleksandr Egorov hold off Daniil Shatalov, 3:47.07 to 3:47.17.