2020 Russian Short Course Championships
- Monday, December 14 – Saturday, December 19
- St. Petersburg, Russia
- SCM (25m)
- Prelims 9 AM / Finals 6 PM (Local Time)
- Meet Page
- Online Broadcast
- Live results
Kliment Kolesnikov just set the 100 short course meter backstroke world record less than a month ago. But he already rattled his best time with a 48.63 on day 1 of Russia’s Short Course Championships.
The 20-year-old Kolesnikov broke the world record leading off a medley relay for Energy Standard in the ISL final last month. His 48.58 was three-tenths of a second under the previous best time on record. In St. Petersburg this week, Kolesnikov smashed a 48.63, coming within .05 of his own world record and taking over the top three swims in history in the event:
Top Performances All-Time, Men’s 100 SCM Back
- Kliment Kolesnikov (2020 ISL Final) – 48.58
- Kliment Kolesnikov (2020 Russian Champs) – 48.63
- Kliment Kolesnikov (2020 ISL Final) – 48.82
- Xu Jiayu (2018 World Cup – Tokyo) – 48.88
- Kliment Kolesnikov (2017 Salnikov Cup) – 48.90
It was a great event all-around for Russia’s national team. Evgeny Rylov went 49.09 for second. That takes .02 off of his previous lifetime-best, set two years ago. Both of those swims came in the semifinals, with the final coming tomorrow.
The six-day meet had a number of fireworks on opening night. Breaststroker Kirill Prigoda also carried his speed pretty well from the ISL season into the Russian Championships. He was 56.78 to win the 100 breast. That’s only about three-tenths off his season-best from the ISL – Prigoda was 56.40 in a semifinal for the London Roar.
Kolesnikov also led of a 4×100 free relay for his Moscow club. Kolesnikov was 45.87 there, which should be his career-best in the individual 100 free.
A few other notable swims from day 1:
- Martin Malyutin won the 400 free in 3:39.45, within two seconds of his lifetime-best.
- In the 200 fly, Alexander Kudashev went 1:52.09 to win by almost a second. His best time is a 1:51.90 from last year.
- Veronika Andrusenko was 1:54.95 to win the 200 free.
- Daniil Pasynkov won the 200 IM in 1:54.04 – only about eight tenths off his lifetime-best.
Kolesnikov is the real deal, keeps getting better & better. Recall watching a meet a couple / few years ago where he swam 200 SCM fee in 1:41 & looked so powerful. Anyone else notice he seems to accelerate his backstroke towards the end like Aaron Peirsol would also do?
Apparently no splits for Kolesnikov and Rylov are available, which is a shame.
Rumour has it he split 25/23
Russian swimming federation has video on its YouTube channel. Looks like his first 50 is around 24.0, definitely not 25.
It seems like he’s made a full recovery from his shoulder injury I’d say. I think he’ll be giving Murphy and Xu a run for their money in Tokyo.
Yes, but he’s not the only one who will challenge. 😉
45.87 and 48.63 in the same session? That’s as close to a perfect session as you could get.