Ilya Borodin Pops Impressive Performance En Route to Gold in 400 IM at Russian Solidarity Games
When it comes to the past two global championships, Ilya Borodin hasn’t received the opportunity to put his talent on display. Last year, COVID-19 forced Borodin out of the Olympic Games in Tokyo. This summer, FINA’s suspension of Russia from competition, due to the country’s invasion of the Ukraine, left Borodin out of the World Championships.
So, the 19-year-old used the Russian Solidarity Games to show where he stands.
On the final night of action in Kazan, Borodin turned in a time of 4:08.05 to win the 400-meter individual medley in dominant fashion. En route to a time that would have been fourth at the World Championships, Borodin prevailed by more than eight seconds over Maxim Stupin (4:16.23). Earlier in the meet, Borodin won the 200 individual medley.
Fast times were also registered in the men’s 100 breaststroke, where Belarus’ Ilya Shymanovich broke the 59-second barrier and claimed the title in 58.97. That swim was enough to defeat Anton Chupkov (59.24) and Kirill Prigoda (59.37), who went one-two in the 200 breaststroke a few days ago. Chupkov and Prigoda closed on Shymanovich on the last lap, but the Belarussian’s opening split of 27.26 handed him ample breathing room.
In women’s action, Arina Surkova won the 50 butterfly in 25.89 and Anna Chernysheva topped the field in the 400 medley in 4:46.40.
Daniil Markov denied Kliment Kolesnikov his fourth gold medal of the meet when he clocked 22.01 in the 50 freestyle, an effort slightly quicker than the 22.06 of Kolesnikov.