At the recent Dubai International Aquatics Championships, Ilya Shymanovich reaffirmed his credentials as one of the world’s premier sprint breaststroker with a blistering 26.37 in the 50 breaststroke, just 0.09 off his own national record. He threw down an already-rapid 26.47 in the heats before dropping a tenth in the final, winning by nearly three seconds over Uzbekistan’s Sadullaev Isk Akbaralievich.
That is the Belarussian swimmer’s third fastest swim in the event, and his best outside of a two week period in April 2023 where he went 26.28 and 26.32. His heat swim was his joint-fifth fastest ever. The first of those 2023 swims ranks him as the #3 swimmer all-time, behind Adam Peaty and Qin Haiyang.
- Adam Peaty (GBR), 2017 – 25.95
- Qin Haiyang (CHN), 2023 – 26.20
- Ilya Shymanovich (BEL), 2023 – 26.28
- Sam Williamson (AUS), 2024 – 26.32
- Nicolo Martinenghi (ITA), 2022/Felipe Lima (BRA), 2019 – 26.33
His time this weekend is faster than anyone not on that list has been, and should be a boost looking forward to the World Championships in Singapore this summer. Despite being one of the top performers all-time in both the 50 and 100 breaststroke, ranking sixth in the latter, Shymanovich has never won a long course World Championship or Olympic medal.
He took double gold at the World University Games in 2017, winning the 50 outright and tying for first in the 100 with Andrew Wilson, but has had more success in short course. After winning silver behind Cameron Van der Burgh in 2018 in both the 50 and 100, he won his first and only World Title in the 100 in 2021 in a time of 55.70.
That was off his World Record of 55.28 set at the ISL, which still stands today. He had set the 50m record two weeks prior, but this was swiftly taken by Emre Sakci who became the first man to break 25 seconds.
Back in long course, Shymanovich missed the final in 2019 in the 100 after going in as favourite to take silver behind Adam Peaty courtesy of a 58.29 in-season swim. He has had a tendency to swim his best in either the heats or semi-finals at international competitions.
Another example came in the 50 in Doha last February, where he dropped to tenth in the semi-finals after leading the prelims in a time that would have ended up just missing the podium.
He takes over the #1 spot this season from Ivan Kozhakin, who had swum 26.46 at the Russian Championships last week. There are now eight men the 27-second mark already this season, six of them doing so within the last two weeks.
2024/25 top-10
- Ilya Shymanovich, 04/20/2025 – 26.37
- Ivan Kozhakin, 04/17/2025 – 26.46
- Simone Cerasuolo, 04/17/2025 – 26.53
- Sam Williamson, 02/14/2025 – 26.66
- Kiril Prigoda, 04/18/2025 – 26.70
- Nicolo Martinenghi, 04/17/2025 – 26.79
- Chris Smith, 04/12/2025 – 26.89
- Michael Houlie, 04/12/2025 – 26.90
- Ludovico Viberti, 04/17/2025 – 27.01
- Mikkel Schreuders, 03/07/2025 – 27.08
This is the fastest Shymanovich has been in any season other than 2022/23, and is his first time under 27 seconds since February last year. April does appear to be his favourite month – four of his top five 50 breaststroke swims have been during April.
He also won the 100m event at the Hamdan Sports Complex in a solid time of 59.45, matching his semi-finals time from Paris. He went out in a rapid 27.20 before falling off a little on the second 50, and was slightly off his season-best 59.34 from two weeks prior. That ranks him fifth in the world so far this year, the only man in the top-five in both sprint distances.
This was a little on the slow side for the Belarussian, as he had broken 59 seconds on every previous occasion that he had broken 26.5 in the 50. That could indicate he’s in heavy training, and is saving his best for the World Championships at the end of July.
With Qin Haiyang well off his best last summer, the door is open for a multitude of swimmers to take gold in the sprint breaststrokes in Singapore. If Shymanovich can swim at or near his best in the summer, he stands a good chance to at least be on the podium.
World Aquatics approved the participation of Russian and Belarusian natives as individual, neutral athletes in September 2023 under a strict set of criteria that included showing no support for the war in Ukraine and having no contract with the Russian or Belarusian military.
Russian and Belarusians had been banned from competing in March 2022 due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine that continues to this day.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved Russian and Belarusian participation at the 2024 Olympics in Paris under a similar set of guidelines in December 2023.
Russian swimmer Evgenii Somov and Belarusian swimmers Alina Zmushka, Ilya Shymanovich, and Anastasiya Shkurdai ended up competing, with Zmuchka placing highest with her eighth-place finish in the women’s 100 breaststroke.
New guidelines were announced in November 2024, which saw a Russian contingent compete at the short course world Championships in Budapest in December, alongside swimmers from Belarus and Mexico.
Daily chirp: bet this guy wishes ISL was still around, but can’t be upset at the Olympic 50s addition. Best of luck!
Michael Andrew has a ways to go to catch ILYA, who is looking good.
he has so much more potential in the 100, idk why he wont focus it