Elizaveta Chmykhova Captures Russian Junior Champs Title by Over 2 Seconds

Russian Junior Championships

• May 13-17
• Penza, Russia
• Long Course Meters (LCM)
• Results
• Live broadcast found on All-Russian Swimming Federation website  

Elizaveta Chmykhova took the women’s 100 backstroke victory on Sunday night at the Russian Junior Championships, touching in a 1:01.50. She added .14 seconds from her best time of 1:01.36, which she swam at the Russian Championships. 

Chmykhova took the first 50 of her race out with the rest of the pack, flipping at a 30.67. Her second 50, however, was where she won the race. Chmykhova nearly even split her 100, and pulled away from her competitors by over two seconds with her second 50 split of 30.83. 

The night before, Chmykhova placed second in the 50 back with a time of 28.92. Alexandra Kurilkina took first in the event, but did not swim in the 100. 

Finishing after Chmykhova with a 1:03.58 was Sophia Sakhova of St. Petersburg. For reference, Sakhova’s second 50 clocked in at 32.98. Arina Khiteva touched a few tenths behind Sakhova with a 1:03.93.

Alexey Tkachev followed his win in the 200 backstroke from the previous night with another gold medal in the 50 backstroke. He outtoched his competitors by a half-second margin, posting a time of 25.35 and improving on his best time of 25.47 that he set at the Russian Championships. 

Mikhail Lymar placed second in the 50 back, finishing after Tkachev with a 25.84. On day 1 of the meet, Lymar also finished as runner-up to Tkachev in the 100 backstroke, touching in a 55.71. Unlike Tkachev, Lymar dropped time in his 50 and dipped under the 26-second mark for the first time. He was entered in the meet with a 26.26.

The women’s 200 IM featured an impressive swim by Victoria Starostina, whose time beat out the rest of the swimmers in the event by almost a full four seconds. Touching in a 2:14.69, Starostina improved on her entry time of 2:16.69 by two seconds. In the third night’s session, Starostina won bronze in the 200 freestyle to Daria Trofimova and Aleksandra Sabitova. 

Placing after Starostina was Daria Trofimova with her time of 2:18.29, followed by Daria Rogzhinova, who finished with a 2:19.18.

To see full results from Sunday night’s events, click on the links below:

• Women’s 50 freestyle
• Men’s 50 backstroke
• Women’s 100 backstroke
• Men’s 200 freestyle
• Women’s 200 IM
• Men’s 100 butterfly
• Women’s 100 breaststroke
• Men’s 800 freestyle
• Mixed 400 medley relay

Tomorrow’s events will include the men’s 50 freestyle, women’s 50 butterfly, men’s and women’s 400 IM, men’s 100 breastroke, women’s 800 freestyle, the women’s 800 freestyle relay, and the men’s 400 medley relay. The events will round out the fifth and final day of racing. So far, Alexandra Kurilkina leads the medal table of the women’s side with 7 total medals, while Daniil Kosenkov champions the men’s events with 5 overall medals.