Kolesnikov Fires Off 48.63 Vladimir Salnikov Cup Record To End The Competition

2023 VLADIMIR SALNIKOV CUP

• Saturday, December 16th – Monday, December 18th
• St. Petersburg, Russia
• SCM (25m)
• Recap #1
• Results

The 2023 Vladimir Salnikov Cup came to a close with the competition representing a replacement of sorts for the European Short Course Championships at which Russian and Belarusian athletes were not allowed to compete.

We already reported how Alexey Sudarev fired off a new Russian national record of 1:52.13 in the men’s 200m IM. You can read more about that achievement here.

In other men’s swims on the final night of action, Kliment Kolesnikov made it happen for gold in the men’s 100m backstroke.

23-year-old Kolesnikov turned in a time of 48.63 to establish a new met record, with his outing overtaking his previous mark of 48.90 logged last year.

Opening in 23.72 and closing in 24.91, K2 beat out Olympic champion Evgeny Rylov who settled for silver in 49.38. Miron Lifincev, who earlier clocked an unofficial European Junior Record in the 50m back, collected bronze in 49.62.

K2’s time checked in as the 2nd-best of his career, sitting only behind the 48.58 logged in Budapest 3 years ago. That keeps its place as the Russian national record in the event. He remains ranked #1 in the world in a time that would have taken gold in Romania.

Kirill Prigoda did damage in the men’s 200m breast, reaping gold in a feisty 2:02.32. That narrowly defeated runner-up Mikhail Dorinov who settled for silver just .01 behind in 2:02.33 while Daniil Semyaninov rounded out the podium in 2:02.97.

Both Prigoda and Dorinov rank #1 and #2 in the world, respectively, after tonight’s performances.

19-year-old Evgenia Chikunova got her hand on the wall first in the women’s 200m breast, producing a new meet record en route to gold.

Chikunova clocked 2:16.89 to win decisively, beating the next-closest competitor by nearly 6 seconds. Irina Shvaeva settled for silver in 2:22.86 and Tatyana Gorbunova bagged bronze in 2:25.63.

Chikunova has already been as quick as 2:15.36 this season, a time she turned in at last month’s Russian Short Course Championships to wear the season’s world ratings crown.

Additional Winners

• Maria Kameneva cemented her status as Russia’s premier backstroker on the women’s side, clocking a result of 57.17 to take 100m gold.
• Yana Shakirova struck gold in the women’s 200m IM, hitting 2:09.15 as the top performer.
• Roman Shevlyakov topped the men’s 50m fly podium in 22.19, eking out the victory over Oleg Kostin‘s runner-up outing of 22.21. Egor Kornev also landed on the podium in 22.40. Kosting was a hair faster last month, ranking 5th in the world in a time of 22.11.
• Arina Surkova was the quickest women’s 50m butterflier, producing a new meet record of 24.75. That was slightly off her Russian national record-setting result of 24.58 set at last month’s national short course championships.