2025 RUSSIAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- April 13-18, 2025
- Kazan, Russia
- LCM (50 meters)
- Meet Central
- Live Results
- Livestream
The 2025 Russian Swimming Championships continued today in Kazan, Russia, serving as the sole qualifying opportunity for those aiming to compete at the World Championships in Singapore this July. The men’s 100 freestyle semifinals were a clear highlight, with Egor Kornev continuing his rise among the top sprinters.
The 21-year-old made a statement with a 47.42 to obliterate his previous best of 47.74. The Saint Petersburg swimmer went out in 22.60 and closed in 24.82, positioning himself not just as the top seed for tomorrow’s final but as a real threat to Kyle Chalmers’ world-leading 47.27 from earlier this month. Kornev’s 47.42 situates him 3rd in the world rankings.
Current World Rankings:
- Kyle Chalmers (AUS) — 47.27 (4/4)
- David Popovici (ROM) — 47.30 (4/12)
- Egor Kornev (RUS) – 47.42 (4/17)*
- Kim Youngbeom (KOR) – 47.96 (3/24)
- Matt Richards (GBR) – 48.07 (4/17)
Kornev is now the second-fastest Russian swimmer in history, trailing only national record holder Kliment Kolesnikov’s 47.11 from the 2020 Tokyo Olympic semifinals, where Kolesnikov went on to win the bronze medal. Kornev’s time tonight leapfrogged both Vladislav Grinev (47.43) and Andrei Minakov (47.57) in the Russian all-time rankings.
The rising star showed notable progress in both halves of the race compared to his previous best time. He shaved 0.14 off his opening 50 meters, clocking the aforementioned 22.60 compared to his previous 22.74. The second 50 meters saw an even greater improvement, with Kornev cutting 0.18, dropping from 25.00 to 24.82. See the full splits comparison below.
Splits Comparison:
| Kornev’s New Best Time | Kornev’s Previous Best Time (July 2024) | |
| First 50m | 22.60 | 22.74 |
| Second 50m | 24.82 | 25.00 |
| Total Time | 47.42 | 47.74 |
Kornev has already thrown down the two fastest 50 free times in the world this year—21.54 and 21.43—and now adds a world-class 100 free to his 2025 resume. He leads a loaded Russian field where seven swimmers dipped under 49 seconds, and all eyes will be on whether anyone else can crack the 48.18 qualification standard for Worlds.
Additional swimmers under 49 seconds included 2019 World Championships medalist Grinev (48.20), current backstroke world leader Kolesnikov (48.66), World Junior Champion Ivan Girev (48.77), Dmitry Zhavoronkov (48.79), and Vasily Kukushkin (48.87).
Minakov, who broke the Russian national record in the 100 fly on Tuesday, qualified 3rd for tomorrow’s final with a 48.46—almost a second off his personal best of 47.57.
You can learn a bit more about Kornev is these two related articles:
Nice to see the 100 free finally starting to move forward globally
Who is going to be swimming the breaststroke leg in their Medley Relay?
Maybe Somov? It’s unclear.
Personally, I think it depends on the state of the game, and at the moment I feel that it is difficult to say who the number one is
prigoda
Prigoda
Kornev is really improving and could cause a problem for the other top sprinters at the World Championships
Rus doesn’t have the strongest legs for any stroke (on paper) but they might be the most consistent, no obvious weak link
Kolesnikov is roughly even with Ceccon and Xu.
wouldn’t he swim free though? his 1 free PB is still quite a bit faster then kornev
Kolesnikov’s free hasn’t looked that sharp since Tokyo (although I may have egg on my face tomorrow)
Their medley relay is definitely a threat for gold, or at least any medal
I still have some doubts about prigoda, it looks to me not he’s on par the best breaststrokers, but if he can get not too far behind them I see their medlay relay favorite for gold
China is the favourite. They have a 52 low-mid back, a 57, or at least 58 low breast and a 45 or 46 low free leg.
What happened to Somov?
Seems any worries about Prigoda should be assuaged
The Russian 400 medley relay will be deadly.
especially so if the swimmers get sent to the front lines
the olga baydalova effect 😛
A new elite sprinter has emerged. Russian men have speed and depth in all strokes.
Both 400 relays looking really great now for russia