2025 MARE NOSTRUM – MONACO
- Saturday, May 17th – Sunday, May 18th
- Prelims at 9am local (3am ET)/Finals at 5pm local (11am ET)
- Prince Albert II Nautical Center
- SwimSwam Preview
- Meet Central
- Psych Sheets (PDF)
- Live Results
- Live Stream ($)
The second day of action just wrapped up at the Monaco stop of the Mare Nostrum series, held at the Prince Albert II Nautical Center, where Russian world record holder Kliment Kolesnikov notched a new Mare Nostrum record in the 50 backstroke. He clocked a winning time of 24.44, narrowly breaking Michael Andrew’s 2019 mark of 24.45 by one-hundredth of a second.
Kolesnikov remains the world leader in the event, courtesy of his 23.90 from the Russian Championships last month.
Current World Rankings:
- Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS) — 23.90 (4/16)
- Pavel Samusenko (RUS) — 24.01 (4/16)
- Shaine Casas (USA) – 24.23 (3/6)
- Miron Lifintsev (RUS) – 24.40 (4/15)
- Ji-hwan Yoon (KOR) – 24.48 (3/27)
Yesterday, Kolesnikov grabbed 2nd in the 100 back, logging 54.08, over two seconds shy of his world-leading 52.04 from the Russian Championships.
Russia is sending a team to the World Championships in Singapore this July, but will compete under the neutral designation “Neutral Athletes B” due to restrictions related to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
In an interview with Metaratings.ru back in early January, Kolesnikov confirmed his intent to participate at Worlds, stating, “I think that it wouldn’t be very good for me to sit here while the entire team competes in Singapore and wins medals. I could also contribute to this—both in the relay and in individual events. I repeat: my plans now include preparing for Singapore. We’ll see how things go from here.”
Singapore will be Kolesnikov’s first long course international appearance in nearly four years.
The 24-year-old holds the world record in the 50 back, set at the 2023 Russian Cup. There, Kolesnikov touched the wall in 23.55, shaving 0.16 off the previous global standard of 23.71, set by American Hunter Armstrong that April. Kolesnikov’s previous best of 23.80 from the 2021 European Championships was the world record before Armstrong’s performance.
On the international stage, Kolesnikov is best known for winning two individual medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He earned silver in the 100 back final with a then-personal best of 52.00—a time he later lowered to 51.82 at the Russian Cup in July 2023. That performance ranks him as the second-fastest performer in history in the event, trailing only Thomas Ceccon (51.60) of Italy.
Kolesnikov also claimed bronze in the 100 free in Tokyo, finishing in 47.44 after posting a blistering 47.11 in the semifinals—a time that still would have earned bronze behind Caeleb Dressel (47.02) and Kyle Chalmers (47.08).
Did he wear that hat in Monaco?