2021 RUSSIAN NATIONAL SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- April 3-9, 2021
- Palace of Water Sports, Kazan, Russia
- Prelims: 9:00 am local/2:00 am Eastern, Finals: 6:00 pm local/11:00 am Eastern
- LCM (50m)
- Russian Olympic Qualification Procedures
- Meet Central
- Start Lists/Results
- Live Stream (YouTube channel)
Andrey Zhilkin delivered the swim of his career when it mattered most, qualifying for his first Olympic team in the men’s 200 IM by lowering the Russian National Record in a time of 1:57.50.
Racing head-to-head with Ilya Borodin, the holder of what is now the former record of 1:58.00, Zhilkin dominated from start to finish, opening up over a second lead on Borodin on fly before widening the gap the rest of the way.
Zhilkin’s fly is the main difference-maker compared to Borodin’s previous record swim as well.
Split Comparison
| Borodin, 2020 | Zhilkin, 2021 |
| 25.95 | 25.00 |
| 55.78 (29.83) | 54.74 (29.74) |
| 1:29.48 (33.70) | 1:29.01 (34.27) |
| 1:58.00 (28.52) | 1:57.50 (28.49) |
Zhilkin, 26, had set his previous best time at the 2019 World Championships, having gone 1:58.16 in the semis to narrowly miss the final in ninth.
He now sits in a tie for fourth in the world this season, matching Jeremy Desplanches‘ time from last month.
2020-2021 LCM Men 200 IM
Shun
1:55.00
| 2 | Michael Andrew | USA | 1:55.26 | 06/17 |
| 3 | Duncan Scott | GBR | 1:55.28 | 07/30 |
| 4 | Jeremy Desplanches | SUI | 1:56.17 | 05/19 |
| 5 | Daiya Seto | JPN | 1:56.22 | 07/30 |
Borodin placed second in 1:59.35, getting under the FINA ‘A’ cut to add a second individual event in Tokyo after winning the 400 IM on the opening day of competition.
200 im is shaping up to be a very close event.