Ilya Borodin Qualifies For Singapore Worlds In 400 IM After Missing 200 Standard (Day 5 Recap)

2025 RUSSIAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• April 13-18, 2025
• Kazan, Russia
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Live Results
• Livestream

The penultimate day of the 2025 Russian Swimming Championships took place on Thursday, and finals of four individual events were on the schedule.

Medals were awarded for the men’s 400 IM, men’s 50 butterfly, women’s 100 backstroke, and men’s 1500 freestyle with semifinals of the men’s 100 freestyle, women’s 50 freestyle, men’s 50 breaststroke, and women’s 100 butterfly also taking place.

This meet serves as the sole selection opportunity for the Russian team for the World Championships in Singapore this July. Swimmers must place 1st or 2nd in the ‘A’ final and achieve a qualifying time to be considered for selection.

The team will then be formed based on the head coach’s recommendation, taking into account the athletes’ performances. The final decision will be made by the Presidium of the Russian Federation of Aquatic Sports.

After winning gold but missing the qualifying time in the 200 IM earlier this week, Ilya Borodin completed his IM sweep with a victory in the 400. The 22-year-old put his hand on wall in a time of 4:11.39 to clear the field by over 2.5 seconds. He was about three seconds off his career-best of 4:08.05 from July 2022, but still faster than the 4:16.00 qualifying standard set by the Russian Federation to swim this event at the World Championships this July.

24-year-old Maxim Stupin touched 2nd in 4:13.94—just off his 4:12.42 from this meet last year, but still swift enough to earn a spot on the plane to Worlds.

The men’s 50 fly saw a tight battle unfold for the gold, with two swimmers dipping under the elusive 23.23 qualification standard. 32-year-old Oleg Kostin, the national record holder at 22.62 and a World Championships medalist in this event back in 2019, claimed gold in 23.15. He was followed just 0.01 behind by 23-year-old Egor Yurchenko, who notched a time of 23.16.

In the women’s 100 back final, Alina Gaifutdinova took the win with a time of 1:00.14, just shy of both her lifetime best of 59.87 and the World Championships qualifying standard of 59.89. She has already secured her spot for Singapore with her 27.62 winning performance in the 50 back on Monday. And since she’s under the World Aquatics ‘A’ time of 1:00.46, we may still get to see her race the event after all.

Andrei Minakov, who broke the Russian national record in the 100 fly on Tuesday, opted out of the 50 fly to focus on the 100 free semi instead, where he qualified third for tomorrow’s final with a 48.46—just off his personal best of 47.57.

Egor Kornev made a statement in the men’s 100 free semis, leading the field with a 47.42 to obliterate his previous best of 47.74. The 20-year-old from Saint Petersburg 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:

1. Kyle Chalmers (AUS) — 47.27 (4/4)
2. David Popovici (ROM) — 47.30 (4/12)
3. Egor Kornev (RUS) – 47.42 (4/17)*
4. Kim Youngbeom (KOR) – 47.96 (3/24)
5. Matt Richards (GBR) – 48.07 (4/17)

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 final 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 Vladislav Grinev (48.20), current backstroke world leader Kliment Kolesnikov (48.66), World Junior Champion Ivan Girev (48.77), Dmitry Zhavoronkov (48.79), and Vasily Kukushkin (48.87).

16-year-old Ksenia Misharina posted a time of 16:04.21 to win the women’s 1500 free, surpassing her career-best of 16:06.09, which was set as her winning time last year. This new mark is well under the 16:15.77 required to compete in the event at the World Championships. She made a breakthrough in April 2023, setting three Russian Youth records. You can view all of her splits from tonight below.

Other Highlights:

• After winning the individual women’s 100 free on Tuesday with a career-best 53.53, Darya Klepikova set a new standard of 53.48 to lead off Voronezh’s silver medal-winning 4×100 free relay (3:42.46). St. Petersburg stole the win with a time of 3:38.71, highlighted by Alexandra Kuznetsova‘s 54.31 anchor leg.
• In the women’s 100 fly semis, Klepikova led with a time of 57.46, followed by Russian record holder Svetlana Chimrova at 58.48. 200 fly winner Serafima Fokina rounded out the top three with a time of 58.69.
• Three swimmers posted times under 25 seconds in the women’s 50 free semis. Arina Surkova led with a time of 24.85, followed closely by Kuznetsova at 24.89, and Darya Trofimova at 24.90. The Singapore target time for tomorrow’s final is 24.72.
• In the semis of the men’s 50 breast, Ivan Kozhakin set a new Russian record with a time of 26.46, breaking the previous mark of 26.66. Kirill Prigoda advanced 2nd with a time of 26.98.
  • Read more about the record, in more detail, here.