Ilya Borodin Moves To #3 In The World With 4:09.12 400 IM On Day 5 of Russian Champs

2023 RUSSIAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• April 16-21, 2023
• Kazan, Russia
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Live Results
• Live Stream

Things were a bit quieter on the penultimate night of finals at the 2023 Russian Championships after we saw a slew of blistering performances on Day 4, but there were still some impressive swims, highlighted by rising medley star Ilya Borodin.

Borodin, the 2021 European champion and current World Junior Record holder in the men’s 400 IM, won the event on Thursday in a time of 4:09.12, moving him into third in the 2022-23 world rankings.

The 20-year-old owns the Russian Record in a time of 4:08.05, set in July 2022 at Russia’s Solidarity Games. That performance made Borodin the fourth-fastest man in the world last year, trailing World Championship medalistS Leon Marchand (4:04.28), Carson Foster (4:06.56) and Chase Kalisz (4:07.47).

Placing second to Borodin was 22-year-old Maxim Stupin, who clocked 4:14.52 to near his lifetime best of 4:14.35 set last year.

In the women’s 100 backstroke, Belarusian Anastasiya Shkurdai (59.87) scored an upset victory of sorts over Maria Kameneva (59.99), with Kameneva having led the semis in a time of 59.78.

Shkurdai, who owns a best time of 59.08 set in 2020, slots into 14th in the world this season, while Kameneva’s performance from the semis ranks her 12th.

After Oleg Kostin soared to a new Russian Record in the men’s 50 fly (22.62) on Wednesday in a time trial, having been disqualified in the prelims, the final lacked a bit of luster given his absence, but we still saw a sub-23 effort come from champion Egor Yurchenko.

After setting a best time of 23.19 in the semi-finals, Yurchenko reset his PB once again in the final, clocking 22.94 to earn the win and move into third in the world this season.

Roman Shevlyakov was the runner-up in 23.10, just shy of the best time he set in the semi-finals (23.07), and 100 fly winner Petr Zhikharev (23.18) rounded out the top three. Both cracked the top 10 in the world this season as well.

In the other final of the night, the women’s 1500 freestyle, three junior-aged swimmers swept the podium, led by Sofia Dyakova, born in 2008, who clocked 16:27.73 to top Polina Kozyakina (16:31.22) and Ksenia Misharina (16:33.18). Dyakova knocked more than six seconds off her previous best of 16:33.90, set last year, while Kozyakina (born in 2007), dropped .03.

SEMI-FINAL HIGHLIGHTS

• The men’s 100 freestyle saw Vladislav Grinev lead the semis in a time of 48.03, moving him into 12th in the world this year, while Kliment Kolesnikov (48.29) sits second and Egor Kornev (48.70) and Andrei Minakov (48.73) are lurking in third and fourth. Grinev owns a best time of 47.43 from 2019, and was as fast as 47.78 in 2022.
• Arina Surkova, fresh off breaking the women’s 50 fly National Record in back-to-back swims on Tuesday and Wednesday, executed an impressive double by advancing through to the final in both the 100 fly and 50 free. In the 100 fly, Svetlana Chimrova (57.83) led the way and Surkova (58.11) qualified in second, and then in the 50 free, Surkova took the top spot in 24.50 to knock .02 off her best time set at the Tokyo Olympics and rank sixth in the world this season. Chimrova owns the 100 fly Russian Record at 57.17 from 2017, and her and Surkova tied for the fastest time in the nation last year at 57.54.
• The night closed with the men’s 50 breast semis, where Belarusian Ilya Shymanovich took the top spot by nearly four-tenths in 26.65. Shymanovich swam a time of 26.28 earlier this month at the Belarus Open to lead the world rankings by 35 one-hundredths. Andrey Nikolaev sits second heading into the final at 27.02.