2019 SHORT COURSE RUSSIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, November 5 – Sunday, November 10, 2019
- Kazan, Russia
- Prelims 9 AM / Finals 6 PM (Local time)
- Live Stream
- Live Results
Kliment Kolesnikov and Maria Kameneva each won 100 back titles on day 2 of Russia’s Short Course Nationals, Kameneva improving to 56.67.
Kameneva was 56.78 in semifinals, checking in inside the top 10 in the world this season, and she improved by a tenth in finals. Kameneva is now just three tenths off a national record set in late 2009. She won this event by almost a second at Russian nationals.
Kolesnikov, surprisingly, had a tougher road to the win. He was 50.67, only narrowly beating Andrey Shabasov (50.67) and Grigory Tarasevich (50.92). The 19-year-old Kolesnikov didn’t appear to be swimming with much rest, as he was almost two seconds off his own personal best and Russian record of 48.90. Kolesnikov was 50.1 just a month ago in the International Swimming League.
One more standout race was the men’s 200 free, which was a thriller of a finish between Mikhail Vekovishchev, Vladislav Grinev and Mikhail Dovgalyuk. Vekovishchev had a lead of .01 heading into the final 50, then tore away from Grinev to win in 1:41.73. That appears to be a drop of about eight tenths of a second from the 21-year-old’s previous lifetime-best, and also appears to rank #2 in the world this season, though short course world ranks have been spotty this fall.
Dovgalyuk also closed hard and nearly ran down Grinev for silver. Grinev was 1:42.22 and Dovgalyuk 1:42.27. Both times are faster than anyone in the ISL’s four opening meets besides world leader Alexander Graham.
Other event winners on day 2:
- 2018 Euros silver medalist Svetlana Chimrova paced the 200 fly in 2:07.41. She’s the Russian record-holder with a 2:04.36 from 2017.
- Kirill Strelnikov went 57.94 to win the men’s 100 breast.
- In the women’s 50 breast, Natalia Ivaneeva went 30.16 for the win. She’s one of just three Russians in history to have broken 30 in the event.
- Alexander Popkov led off a mixed 4×50 free relay in 21.38, though his team ultimately fell to second. Kameneva split 23.46 anchoring the winning women’s 4×50 medley relay. The Russian record individually in the 50 free is just 23.64.
