Evgeny Rylov and Anton Chupkov booked a ticket to Worlds and topped the world rankings with impressive results on the second day of Russian Nationals Championships in Moscow.
Evgeny Rylov cruised to victory in the men’s 100 backstroke with a 53.13, the second fastest time in the world this year. Louisville-trained Grigory Tarasevich got second and won silver with 53.54. Both will represent the country in Budapest this summer. Andrey Shabasov finished third with a 53.77.
Anton Chupkov won gold in a breathtaking men’s 200 breaststroke battle between five men fighting for the national title and a spot on the team. Five swimmers stopped the clock under 2:10 (2:10.04 was the qualification criteria for Worlds) but Chupkov, who was fourth after the last turn, threw down an impressive last 50 and touched out Ilya Khomenko for the gold – 2:08.03 against 2:08.09. This result is the third fastest in the world, with the world record (2:06.67) set by Ippei Watanabe in January on the top of world rankings. Chupkov and Khomenko both joined the Worlds team, while yesterday’s top seed, Kirill Prigoda, who finished third (2:09.02) was left with bronze.
Rozalia Nasretdinova celebrated victory in the women’s 100 freestyle with a 54.86. The qualification standard for this event was 54.12 but Nasretdinova, along with Victoria Andreeva (55.01) and Arina Opyonysheva (55.02), makes the relay team.
Darya K. Ustinova grabbed gold in the women’s 200 backstroke with a rapid 2:07.23, a result that ties her with Canada’s Kylie Masse for first in world rankings. Ustinova won in her usual manner, with more than three seconds lead ahead of her rivals. Egorova Polina finished second with a 2:10.45 but this result was not enough to make the team. Irina Prikhodko was third with a 2:10.49.
Veronika Popova won the women’s 400 free with a 4:07.59 and will swim this event in Budapest. Anna Egorova was second but did not make the team, finishing with a 4;10.47. Arina Opyonysheva touched third with a 4:12.52.
Olympians Vladimir Morozov and Danila Izotov were the two top qualifiers for tomorrow’s men’s 100 freestyle final. Morozov’s 48.54 ranks him no.2 this year currently, only behind Cameron McEvoy’s 48.13 from NSW Open in March. Izotov’s 48.70 gives him lane five for finals. Andrey Arbuzov was third with a 49.05.
Yulia Efimova topped the women’s 200 breast semifinals with a 2:25.45. It’s not her fastest result this year, she posted a 2:23.17 in the meet in Australia earlier in March but it was pretty comfortable and a solid swim to give her lane four for finals. Maria Temnikova was second with a 2:26.26 and Sofia Andreeva was third with a 2:26.89.
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