Lifincev Gets 100 Back Gold Ahead Of Kolesnikov At Russian Swimming Cup

2024 RUSSIAN SWIMMING CUP

• Tuesday, July 23rd – Sunday, July 28th
• Yekaterinburg, Russia
• LCM (50m)
• SwimSwam Preview
• Entries/Results
• Livestream

The 2024 Russian Swimming Cup kicked off this week from Yekaterinburg with the nation’s athletes racing domestically instead of at the Olympic Games which kick off on July 27th

We reported how 21-year-old Ilya Borodin already made the most of the competitive opportunity, firing off a new national record of 1:56.75 to take gold in the men’s 200m IM. The swim represents his first-ever foray under the 1:57 barrier.

• Ilya Borodin Lowers Own Russian 200 IM Record to 1:56.75

Also on the men’s front, Martin Malyutin got it done for gold in the 200m free on day one, posting a winning effort of 1:46.13.

25-year-old Malyutin split 52.71/53.42, to hold off Roman Akimov who was also under the 1:47 barrier with a silver medal-worthy 1:46.70. Vladyslav Rznychenko rounded out the podium in 1:47.45.

As for Malyutin, the men’s 4x200m free relay medalist from Tokyo owns a lifetime best of 1:44.79 in this individual event, a time he put up en route to becoming the 2021 European Championships gold medalist. Malyutin’s resume also boasts a World Championships bronze in the 200m free from when he tied British Olympic medalist Duncan Scott at the 2019 edition in Gwangju.

Alina Gayfutdinova topped the women’s 50m back in a time of 27.54, beating the field by nearly a second.

Elizaveta Agapitova was next to the wall in 28.50 while Victoria Mashkina hit 28.56 as the bronze medalist.

Gayfutdinova’s effort checks the Russian in as the 9th-best performer in the world this season.

In an upset, young gun Miron Lifincev raced his way to gold ahead of Olympian Kliment Kolesnikov in the men’s 100m back.

Lifincev ripped a time of 52.52 to sneak to the wall .12 ahead of Kolesnikov who settled for silver in 52.64. Pavel Samusenko rounded out the top 3 performers in 53.00.

Lifincev opened in 25.08, exactly the same as K2, but brought it home in 27.44 to the latter’s 27.56 to seal the deal. Tonight’s time was just off the 52.34 European Junior Record Lifincev produced at the Russian Championships this past April.

World record holder in the 200m breast Evgenia Chikunova was in action, racing in the women’s 50m breast.

The 19-year-old posted a result of 30.44 as the gold medalist, knocking .10 off her previous PB of 30.54 turned in at the Russian Championships earlier this year.

Elena Bogomolova was just under half a second behind in 30.89 and Yuliya Efimova logged 30.91 for bronze. As a refresher, Efimova, who owns the Russian record in this 50m breast, was cleared to race as a neutral athlete in Paris but was unable to collect an Olympic Qualification Time to make it happen.

Additional Notes

• The women’s 400m IM saw Daria Rogozhinova post a time of 4:47.26 to eke out the victory over Iryna Kryvonogova who secured silver in 4:47.54.
• Savely Luzin was the quickest men’s 400m freestyler on day two, nailing a result of 3:49.22. That narrowly defeated Akimov who notched 3:49.22. Daniil Shatalov earned bronze in 3:50.63.
• Anastasia Markova earned the gold in the women’s 200m back, registering 2:10.89.
• Two men dipped under the 1:00 threshold in the 100m breast, led by Ivan Kozhakin‘s mark of 59.54. Kirill Prigoda followed in 59.87 and Alexander Zhigalov punched 1:00.26 for bronze.
• The men’s 100m fly final takes place tomorrow where we’ll see semi-finalists Andrei Minakov, Roman Shevlyakov and Samusenko battle for the gold. Minakov led the semi-finals in 51.42 with Shevlyakov immediately behind in 51.46. Samusenko was 52.34 to set himself up for a potential medal. Minakov has already been as speedy as 50.86 this season.
• Daria Trofimova was one of two swiftest performers out of the women’s 100m free semi-final. She posted 54.14 to tie Daria Klepinova headed into the final tomorrow evening