Russian Swimming Cup
- Saint Petersburg, Russia
- April 17-21, 2026
- LCM (50 Meters)
- Live Results
- Recaps
Day 3 of the Russian Swimming Cup has wrapped up in Saint Petersburg, as several big names made a presence felt on Sunday.
Alina Gaifutdinova notched a new lifetime best in her winning 50 backstroke effort, overwhelming the field in 27.23, lowering her previous best of 27.44 from the World Championships last summer in Singapore, which earned her a 4th-place finish, and making her the fastest performer in the world this season.
2025-2026 LCM Women 50 BACK
MCKEOWN
27.13
| 2 | Mollie O'Callaghan | AUS | 27.19 | 06/08 |
| 3 | Alina Gaifutdinova | RUS | 27.23 | 04/19 |
| 4 | Katharine BERKOFF | USA | 27.24 | 03/05 |
| 5 | Isabelle Stadden | USA | 27.29 | 04/30 |
This time moves her ahead of the American duo of Katharine Berkoff and Isabelle Stadden, with times of 27.24 and 27.29, respectively. It also ties Anastasia Fesikova‘s Russian record from 2018, which puts her in a four-way tie for 15th all-time in the event, alongside Aliaksandra Herasimenia, Daniela Samulski, and Fesikova in 27.23.
Opening up the session was Ivan Kozhakin, just outpacing Ilya Shymanovich to take the win in the 50 breaststroke in 26.94; that time still sits about a half second off of his career best of 26.46 from the Russian National Championships last year, but still got him into the top 10 in the world this season at #9. Shymanovich touched just behind in 27.05, as he now sits tied with Finn Brooks for the #14 performer in the world this season.
In the men’s 400 freestyle, Grigorii Vekovishchev took home the win in 3:46.16, over two seconds faster than the rest of the field, and was just one of two swimmers to dip under the 3:50 barrier. This time also betters his career best of 3:46.64 from the World Junior Championships last summer, making him the 13th fastest performer in the world this season.
The women’s 200 free came down to the final touch, as Ksenia Misharina and Milana Stepanova were separated by just three hundredths of a second; Misharina used a major last 50 of 29.57 to overtake Stepanova (30.26 on the final 50) to take the win in 1:58.06. Stepanova would settle for 2nd in 1:58.09.
Georgy Smirnov was untouchable in men’s 200 back, taking the win in 1:56.11, more than a full second faster than the field, moving him up to the #8 performer globally for the season. Alexey Tkachev touched 2nd in 1:57.26, while Dmitry Savenko wound up 3rd in 1:57.60, the only three swimmers in the event to crack 1:58.
Mikhail Vekovischev was the lone sub-52-second performer in the men’s 100 fly, taking the final individual event win in 51.88; this time was just over half a second slower than his lifetime best of 51.37 from the 2023 Russian National Championships.
