2025 World Championships
- July 27 – August 3, 2025 (pool swimming)
- Singapore, Singapore
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Russian teenager Miron Lifintsev unleashed the second-fastest swim in history in the men’s 100 backstroke leading off the Neutral Athletes B (NAB) squad in the mixed 4×100 medley relay final on Wednesday night in Singapore.
Lifintsev put up a time of 51.78 on the lead-off leg, dropping three-tenths from his personal best time to blow past the 52-second barrier and move up into #2 all-time in the event.
The 19-year-old’s previous best time stood at 52.08, set almost one year ago to the day (July 28, 2024), and his performance came just 24 hours after he placed 7th in the men’s 100 back final in a time of 52.51.
His opening 50 was particularly jaw-dropping, coming at a startling 24.60, just 32 one-hundredths shy of his best time in the 50 back (24.28).
Split Comparison
| Lifintsev, 2024 | Lifintsev, 2025 |
| 25.00 | 24.60 |
| 52.08 (27.08) | 51.78 (27.18) |
Lifintsev moves past countryman Kliment Kolesnikov to rank #2 all-time in the event, with Kolesnikov owning the Russian Record of 51.82, set in July 2023. Whether or not Lifintsev’s swim will be officially recognized as the Russian Record will be up to the federation, due to it coming in a mixed relay.
The only swimmer faster than Lifintsev is Italian Thomas Ceccon, who set the world record at 51.60 back in 2022.
Split Comparison
| Ceccon, 2022 | Lifintsev, 2025 | Kolesnikov, 2023 |
| 25.14 | 24.60 | 24.83 |
| 51.60 (26.46) | 51.78 (27.18) | 51.82 (26.99) |
Lifintsev’s performance was seven one-hundredths faster than what South African Pieter Coetze registered to win the gold medal in the 100 back on Tuesday (51.85).
With Lifintsev, Coetze and 100 back bronze medalist Yohann Ndoye-Brouard all breaking 52 seconds for the first time in the last few weeks—with Lifintsev and Ndoye-Brouard doing so for the first time in Singapore—the entire top 10 all-time performers in the 100 back are under 52.
All-Time Performers, Men’s 100 Backstroke (LCM)
- Thomas Ceccon (ITA), 51.60 – 2022
- Miron Lifintsev (RUS), 51.78 – 2025
- Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 51.82 – 2023
- Ryan Murphy (USA) / Pieter Coetze (RSA), 51.85 – 2016 / 2025
- –
- Xu Jiayu (CHN), 51.86 – 2017
- Yohann Ndoye-Brouard (FRA), 51.92 – 2025
- Aaron Peirsol (USA), 51.94 – 2009
- Evgeny Rylov (RUS), 51.97 – 2019
- Hunter Armstrong (USA), 51.98 – 2022
After Lifintsev’s blistering lead-off leg, Kirill Prigoda threw down a blazing-fast breaststroke split of 57.56 to give the NAB team a massive lead at the halfway mark of the mixed medley relay, and then Daria Klepikova (55.97) and Daria Trofimova (52.66) finished things off as the Russian quartet won gold and broke the Championship Record in 3:37.97.
I’m curious: why does 100 Back improve so fast, while 200 Back improve so slow? Peirsol probably has the safest supersuited WR now.
A) Supersuits help distance events more (magic carpet ride on the way home, Biedermann 2x, Zhang, evidently Piersol) especially on an event that burns one part of your body ie backstroke + legs
B) Piersol was a monster in his own time, people going sub 51.94 is decently rare as is.
Both those points synergize for an ungodly 200 back record
The world may be swimming the 200 back wrong. Many people aren’t afraid to take the 100 back out fast in the 24s and as a result has lead to many 51s. In the 200 back the fields always take it out in 55 and 56, but everyone seems afraid to take it out in like a 54 which is what’s needed to get close to the record
The meets are more exciting when there are Russians (or NABs if you can’t get over that they are here) at the meet. Especially their men.
Don’t think mixed medley relay lead offs count.
Remember when a young Ryan Murphy randomly blasted a 52 low in the mixed medley
This swim shows that there’s some ground to be had on the 100 back WR, going out in 24.6 shows that it’s possible to push it faster on the front end than the current record.
24.6 to the turn is diabolical, most 50 Backstrokers can’t even go that time.
Lifintsev opening speed + Ceccon closing speed + Ryan Murphy start and walls is the ultimate backstroker
From my understanding, Mixed medley leadoffs do not count
We don’t believe it will count as the official Russian Record, but for the purposes of all-time performance and performers lists, we’ll include it.
So 51s are the new 52s in this event
Except for the US, where 53’s and 54’s are the new 52’s
This doesn’t count as an official time, though, does it?
It’ll be interesting to see what he goes leading off the Medley on Sunday
I don’t think it does, but it should. If he swam the 51.7 with me (i.e. a very slow dude) in the lane next to him, it would count. So what’s the difference?
It makes sense in the opposite direction (women leading off mixed relays) for it to not count.
he also had clear water on the other side