17-Year-Old Ilya Borodin Hits 4:11.50 400 IM Russian, World Junior Record

2020 RUSSIAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

World Junior Record #2 has fallen at the hands of a Russian while competing at the nation’s 2020 Long Course Championships.

Yesterday we saw 18-year-old Andrei Minakov break through with a new World Junior Record in the men’s 50m fly posting a time of 23.05 in the semifinal.

Tonight, we turned to the men’s 400m IM, with 17-year-old Ilya Borodin putting on a show en route to gold. Borodin clocked a stellar time of 4:11.50 here in Kazan to not only take over the 400m IM Russian national record but also overtake the WJR mark of 4:11.93 Apostolos Papastamos clocked last year at the World Junior Championships when he won the event.

Borodin’s 4:11.50 sliced .43 off of that record but also laid waste to his own national record of 4:12.95 he logged last year for silver behind the aforementioned Greek swimmer.

Splits for Borodin’s swim tonight included the following:

Borodin’s performance renders the teen just outside the top 25 performers all-time in this event, all ages, worldwide.

For additional perspective, Borodin’s 4:11.50 here would rank him as the 2nd fastest 17-18-year-old American ever, sitting only behind Michael Phelps’ National Age Record of 4:09.09 registered in 2003.

Finally, Borodin’s time tonight would have rendered him as the bronze medalist at last year’s senior World Championships.

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Khachaturian
4 years ago

Can’t wait for him to break 4:10!

GA Swimmer
4 years ago

Too bad my boy carson gonna smash that🥱😴

GA Swimmer
Reply to  GA Swimmer
4 years ago

Nvm hes out of time

Wanna Sprite?
Reply to  GA Swimmer
4 years ago

It’s a shame he had so much potential to destroy the wjr but it’s fine cuz he’s boutta drop a 4:07 at trials and make the team either way

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  Wanna Sprite?
4 years ago

He’s not gonna enter the 400 free.

Troyy
Reply to  Wanna Sprite?
4 years ago

‘Merica

Troyy
Reply to  GA Swimmer
4 years ago

Borodin’s still got all of next year to improve it.

Corn Pop
Reply to  GA Swimmer
4 years ago

This time it really is Russia Russia Russia but no external power is stopping your boy from doing a LC time .

Coach Mike 1952
4 years ago

Woof! What a swim.

swimfan210_
4 years ago

Wow, that’s very fast and amazing. 400 IM has a bright future with Borodin, Papastamos, Foster, etc. Also lots of great LC swims at this meet.

Again, as many have said, the WJR system needs some work, if Phelps was 2 seconds faster he would probably be the true WJR holder (unless additional age restrictions applied). But that will not take anything away from this great swim from Borodin.

Admin
Reply to  swimfan210_
4 years ago

The problem with going backward is the doping. Everyone says we want clean sport, and I think most of us do, at least in the sense of a ‘level playing field,’ and so FINA’s perspective is that we can’t say for certain who among those older records were and weren’t drug-tested.

Was Michael Phelps probably drug-tested for that swim? Yeah, probably. Was Sun Yang for his best junior swims? It’s certainly possible.

I think it’s a can of worms that FINA just doesn’t want to mess with, probably.

Casas 100 back gold in Tokyo
Reply to  swimfan210_
4 years ago

The actual fastest junior time for men’s 400 IM is Hagino’s 4:08.94 from London Olympics, where he won bronze.

Texas Tap Water
Reply to  swimfan210_
4 years ago

Nope. Hagino was 2 seconds faster than Phelps at the same age.

About Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

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