The first day of Russian Nationals revealed first members of the team who will represent the country at World Championships in Budapest this summer.
Yulia Efimova easily qualified for Worlds, grabbing the gold medal in the women’s 50 breast. After her impressive 29.95 she posted in semis, Efimova threw fastest world’s result 29.88 later in finals. Anna Ganus finished second in 31.43, and Maria Temnikova was third, 31.52, but neither of them could join Efimova in the team since they could not meet qualification standard of 30.99.
Oleg Kostin won national title and made the team in the men’s 50 butterfly with a 23.27. This result ranks him first in the world this year. His previous personal best was 23.63 from Russian World Trials in 2015. Not only did he post his new best time, but he also scared the national record set by Evgeny Korotyshkin (23.24). Sprint ace Evgeny Sedov finished second with 23.56, enough for silver but not enough to get on the team (qualification criteria for this event is 23.29). Andrey Zhilkin was third, 23.58.
Alexander Krasnov won the men’s 400 free and booked his ticket to Budapest with a time of 3:45.79. This result is No. 4 in the world currently. Ernest Maksumov and Vyatcheslav Andrusenko completed the podium (3:49.97 and 3:50.21, respectively) but could not make the team due to criteria.
Veronika Popova was top qualifier for the finals in the women’s 100 free with fastest time of 54.65. Victoria Andreeva (55.09) and Natalia Lovtsova (55.28) folllowed her.
Olympic bronze medalist Evgeny Rylov was first to seed for finals in the Men’s 100 back with a time of 53.44. This result puts him fifth in world rankings this year. Grigory Tarasevich got second at 54.00, and Andrey Shabasov was third in 54.21
Darya Ustinova posted 2:10.08 in the women’s 200 back semifinal and will get lane four for tomorrow finals. This result is just 0.5 behind qualification standard shewill have to meet to get on the team. Irina Prikhodko (2:11.56) and Polina Egorova (2:11.73) will be her closest competitors for ticket to Worlds.
Svetlana Chimrova posted a solid 2:08.57 in the women’s 200 butterfly semis and is seeded first for finals. Anastasia Guzhenkova followed her with a 2:10.67. One of surprises of the day was 12-year-old Alexandra Sabitova, who qualified third for finals with impressive time of 2:14.28.
Kirill Prigoda was fastest in the Men’s 200 breaststroke semifinals, at 2:08.11. Anton Chupkov, who won bronze in this event in Rio Olympics, followed him in 2:08.72. Ilya Khomenko was third in 2:09.76
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I’m sure the drug screenings at this meet are extremely rigorous………lol
i think that efimova will go voluntarly…
efimova doesn’t impress me no matter what time she does. Report if you have to but find someone not done for cheating (more than once) from Russia (if you can.)