2026 RUSSIAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- June 6-11, 2026
- Kazan, Russia
- LCM (50 meters)
- Meet Central
- Live Results
Egor Kornev has been absolutely electric at the Russian Swimming Championships, rewriting the national record books with some of the fastest performances in history.
The 22-year-old continued his red-hot run on Thursday, unleashing a time of 46.96 in the final of the men’s 100 freestyle to lower his day-old Russian Record by three one-hundredths and move into a tie for sixth all-time alongside Caeleb Dressel.
During the semi-finals on Wednesday, Kornev fired off a time of 46.99 in the 100 free, shattering Kliment Kolesnikov‘s Russian Record of 47.11 from the Tokyo Olympics and becoming the seventh man in history under 47 seconds.
In terms of splitting, Kornev was out faster in the final, flipping in 22.37 compared to 22.51 in the semis, but came home just over a tenth slower in 24.59.
Split Comparison
| Kolesnikov, 2021 | Kornev, 2026 (Semis) | Kornev, 2026 (Final) |
| 22.52 | 22.51 | 22.37 |
| 47.11 (24.59) | 46.99 (24.48) | 46.96 (24.59) |
Kornev slots up alongside Dressel as the sixth-fastest performer ever, and his swim on Thursday also ties Dressel for the 13th-fastest performance ever.
All-Time Performers, Men’s 100 Freestyle (LCM)
- Pan Zhanle (CHN), 46.40 – 2024 Olympic Games
- David Popovici(ROU), 46.51 – 2025 World Championships
- Jack Alexy (USA), 46.81 – 2025 World Championships
- Cesar Cielo (BRA), 46.91 – 2009 World Championships
- Alain Bernard (FRA), 46.94 – 2009 French Nationals
- Caeleb Dressel (USA) / Egor Kornev (RUS), 46.96 – 2019 World Championships / 2026 Russian Championships
- –
- Cameron McEvoy (AUS), 47.04 – 2016 Australian Olympic Trials
- Eamon Sullivan (AUS), 47.05 – 2008 Olympic Games
- Kyle Chalmers (AUS), 47.08 – 2021 Olympic Games
All-Time Performances, Men’s 100 Freestyle (LCM)
- Pan Zhanle (CHN), 46.40 – 2024 Olympic Games
- David Popovici(ROU), 46.51 – 2025 World Championships
- David Popovici (ROU) — 46.71 – 2025 U23 European Championships
- Pan Zhanle (CHN), 46.80 – 2024 World Championships
- Jack Alexy (USA), 46.81 – 2025 World Championships
- David Popovici(ROU), 46.84 – 2025 World Championships
- David Popovici(ROU), 46.86 – 2022 European Championships
- David Popovici(ROU), 46.88 – 2024 European Championships
- Cesar Cielo (BRA), 46.91 – 2009 World Championships
- Pan Zhanle (CHN) / Jack Alexy (USA), 46.92 – 2024 Olympics / 2025 World Championships
- –
- Alain Bernard (FRA), 46.94 – 2009 French Nationals
- Caeleb Dressel (USA) / Egor Kornev (RUS), 46.96 – 2019 World Championships / 2026 Russian Championships
- –
- Pan Zhanle (CHN) / Pan Zhanle (CHN), 46.97 – 2023 Asian Games 2024 Chinese Nationals
- –
- David Popovici (ROU), 46.98 – 2022 European Championships
- Jack Alexy (USA) / Egor Kornev (RUS), 46.99 – 2025 U.S. Nationals / 2026 Russian Championships
- –
- Caeleb Dressel (USA), 47.02 – 2021 Olympic Games
Due to the dominance of Pan Zhanle and David Popovici over the last few years, along with some standout swims from Americans Jack Alexy and Caeleb Dressel, Kornev’s 46.96 swim only ranks two spots higher, tied for 11th, in the all-time textile list compared to the overall list where he’s tied for 13th.
All-Time Textile Performances, Men’s 100 Freestyle (LCM)
- Pan Zhanle (CHN), 46.40 – 2024 Olympic Games
- David Popovici (ROU), 46.51 – 2025 World Championships
- David Popovici (ROU) — 46.71 – 2025 U23 European Championships
- Pan Zhanle (CHN), 46.80 – 2024 World Championships
- Jack Alexy (USA), 46.81 – 2025 World Championships
- David Popovici (ROU), 46.84 – 2025 World Championships
- David Popovici (ROU), 46.86 – 2022 European Championships
- David Popovici (ROU), 46.88 – 2024 European Championships
- Pan Zhanle (CHN) / Jack Alexy (USA), 46.92 – 2024 Olympics / 2025 World Championships
- –
- Caeleb Dressel (USA) / Egor Kornev (RUS), 46.96 – 2019 World Championships / 2026 Russian Championships
- –
- Pan Zhanle (CHN) / Pan Zhanle (CHN), 46.97 – 2023 Asian Games 2024 Chinese Nationals
- –
- David Popovici (ROU), 46.98 – 2022 European Championships
In the 2025-26 world rankings, Kornev further distances himself from the rest of the field, now sitting 42 one-hundredths clear of #2 Chris Guiliano. Also competing in Thursday’s final, Ivan Girev put up a time of 47.63 to rank 11th in the world this season.
2025-2026 LCM Men 100 FREE
KORNEV
46.96
| 2 | Chris Guiliano | USA | 47.38 | 03/04 |
| 3 | Kim Youngbeom | KOR | 47.39 | 10/22 |
| 4 | Jack Alexy | USA | 47.40 | 12/06 |
| 5 | Brooks CURRY | USA | 47.51 | 04/11 |
| 6 | David POPOVICI | ROU | 47.52 | 04/25 |
| 7 | Matthew RICHARDS | GBR | 47.53 | 04/16 |
| 8 | Kyle CHALMERS | AUS | 47.59 | 06/11 |
| 9 | Giulherme CARIBE | BRA | 47.60 | 05/20 |
| 10 | Hwang Sunwoo | KOR | 47.62 | 10/21 |
| 11 | Ivan Girev | RUS | 47.63 | 06/11 |
Later on in Thursday night’s finals session, Kornev won the men’s 50 fly in a time of 22.79, two-tenths shy of the 22.59 Russian Record he set in the semis.
Earlier in the meet, Kornev broke the Russian Record in the semis of the 50 free in 21.12, and then re-lowered that mark to 21.06 in the final, jumping to #5 all-time in the event.
He has 21.0 speed, while breathing. Honestly, he should just go out in 21. high.
Morozov approved this
It looked like he slow down and cruised into the wall for his finish
The supersuits being out of the alltime 10 performances in the 100 while still dominating the 50 and 200 list is curious, hopefully a sign of things to come
Kind of makes sense…in any given 50 meter swim, 1 mistake = “slow” time, super suit or not. In the 50, drag reductions and lift improvements are exponential decreases on resistance at top speed.
In a 200, the race is “long enough” for the suit to make a truly outsized difference based on individual body type/stroke mechanics, so a “great” swimmer who the suit benefits more than the more talented/better trained/harder working athlete is now the “elite” level vs a swimmer who’s body/mechanics the suit does not help as much.
The 100 (meters) is still a race people don’t understand perfectly…46s seconds long, its mostly anaerobic, but still a good (~35%) aerobic energy production. Skill execution needed on dive, 2x… Read more »
Kornev says he does 6-6.5K per session, so yeah volume based plan.
Interesting point. I wonder why that is
Men’s 100 free depth is insane right now
Cielo’s is still 9th. But I’m hoping Popovici/Pan/Alexy can bump that out of the top 10 within the next year.
I still hope to see some development in the 200. I wish Popovici would give that one some focus and see how close he can get to that supersuit record.
Among All-Time-Performances [textile], # 1,4,9,13=13, five times go to PAN, while #2,3,6,7,8 are attributed to Popovici, complemented by other household names. Now EK’s joining the enviable sub-47 elites, each of whom might whip out stunning times.
Let’s see how they might be going from a splash to a clash in upcoming Euros.
Russia has always been the weirdest swim country to me. They always have 3-4 dominant men and women who are posting insane times and then not much else for depth or talent.
Depth is increasing. But this is always the case with everyone other than the US
USA is the only country with actual depth. They are not the norm. Swimming just isn’t that popular worldwide.
The Aussies admittedly have us beat per capita
This is untrue. Russia’s depth is actually very good. They have super long lists of 48 100 freestylers, 51 100 flyers and 53 backstrokers, that no country other than US (and maybe AUS in the free) could match.
The race against Popovici at Euros gonna be good
he’s got nothin on gkolomeev
Who?
Shiny new thing, and the speed per stroke count is new, but from what we know thus far Popovici still clearly has a higher ceiling (especially if you consider frame size). If we’re asking ourselves who’s more likely to push the event incrementally past 46.4, Popovici is still the much better bet
I uhhh think it’s the 6’5 Chinese fella if I’m being real. Pan might have a higher ceiling than Popovici since he has more to gain in skill improvement under the water and off the start.
6’5? Pan is shorter than that
I think its alexy with the highest ceiling as shown in his 45.9
I think it’s Jordan Crooks since he was 39.8, 7 seconds faster than these guys 🤯