Russia Names 39 To SC Worlds Team; Efimova, Chupkov Absent

Russia has announced their official roster of 39 swimmers for the upcoming Short Course World Championships in Hangzhou, and there are two major names missing from the team.

Anton Chupkov and Yuliya Efimova, the reigning LC world champions in the men’s and women’s 200 breaststroke, will not be in attendance next month in China despite both meeting the qualifying criteria to be selected. They were both among the swimmers using their performance at the Tokyo World Cup as a qualifier for the Worlds team rather than Russian Nationals, and Efimova had secured spots in all three breaststroke events while Chupkov had locked up a spot in the 200.

There have been no official reports from Russian Swimming, but all signs point to both swimmers opting out of the team rather than being left off by the coaching staff.

With those two out, Mikhail Dorinov and Vitalina Simonova were the two swimmers to benefit as they get bumped onto the team after previously ranking 3rd in the men’s and women’s 200 breast nationally (while both being under the qualifying time).

A total of eleven swimmers were named to the roster who weren’t apart of our final roster projection after Nationals concluded, nine if we discount the additions of Dorinov and Simonova.

On the men’s side, Ivan Kuzmenko and Evgeny Sedov have been added after both narrowly missed the qualifying time in the 50 freestyle, and they’ve also brought on IM specialist Semen Makovich and 2017 World Junior champion Ivan Girev.

Kuzmenko and Sedov provide some depth to the sprint free relays (and Sedov will probably get the second individual berth in the 50 free behind Vlad Morozov, though that isn’t specified by the roster announcement), while Girev will likely be utilized in the heats of the 400 and 800 free relays. Makovich should take the second spot behind Kliment Kolesnikov in the 200 IM after missing the standard by just a tenth at Nationals (the ‘standards’ were imposed by Russia, and were not required to swim at Worlds).

For the women, they add on Daria KartashovaIrina KrivonogovaAleksandra SabitovaAnastasiia Sorokina and Arina Surkova to the team in addition to those previously qualified (and Simonova). Kartashova and Surkova will both aid the sprint relays, with Surkova likely to swim the 50 fly individually, while Krivonogova and Sorokina will likely swim the 200 and 400 IM (no one qualified in those), and Sabitova should swim the 100 and 200 fly.

FULL RUSSIAN SC WORLDS ROSTER

MEN (22)

WOMEN (17)

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nuotofan
5 years ago

It’s a pity that Andrey Abruzov didn’t qualify. Probably because also his Usa version, Andrew Abruzzo, won’t race at Hangzhou😃

JP input is too short
5 years ago

I love good names.

Rootin’ Tootin’ Martin Malyutin.

Yozhik
Reply to  JP input is too short
5 years ago

Malyuta was actually the name of infamous henchman of Ivan the Terrible. Quite a name in Russian history.
I wouldn’t joke about it 😀

SUM Ting Wong
Reply to  Yozhik
5 years ago

Malyuta should have used a bone saw . Then it would be ok .

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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