Maria Kameneva Breaks Russian 50 Free Record on Day 2 of Championships

2018 Russian Swimming Championships

• April 20th-25th, 2018
• Moscow, Russia
• Meet Central
• Live Results
• Live Stream
• Qualifying Criteria

After the men broke a pair of Russian Records on Day 1 of the 2018 Russian Championships on Friday, it was the women’s turn to attack the books on Saturday. That’s when 18-year old Maria Kameneva burst through with a 24.61, which broke the old National Record of 24.82, which was a tie between Kamaneva herself at last year’s World University Games and Elizaveta Bazarova at the 2014 Russian National Cup.

Kamaneva’s rise to prominence has been a slow burn of sorts. She first broke 25 seconds in this race in 2015 at the Kazan World Championships, when she was just 16, but didn’t do so again until last year’s World University Games. Now she’s lopped a relatively-significant two-tenths of a second off her previous best and ranks 10th in the world in 2017-2018.

She was at first the only swimmer under the qualifying standard for the European Championships. Arina Surkova was a 25.05, just missing the standard of 25.02. In a twist, however, Rosalia Nasretdinova, who was disqualified in prelims for a false-start, took advantage of a loophole in the rules of the competition and organized another “extra final” for swimmers to try and make the standard later in the session. While none of the rest of the group, including Surkova, was able to improve their swim from the regular final, Nasretdinova was able to finish in 24.66 – under the old record, and the European qualifying standard, which puts her on the the team for Glasgow.

In the women’s 100 fly, Svetlana Chimrova leapt up the World Rankings with a Euros-qualifying 57.39 to win the final. That’s the 4th-best time of her career, albeit about two-tenths slower than she was at this meet last year. She was the only swimmer to achieve the qualifying standard, but the runner-up was 14-year old Aleksandra Sabitova, who broke the Russian Junior Record in 58.18. Sabitova has been climbing the ladder of Russian swimming in a hurry, since she swam a 59 in the 100 long course fly when she was only 12 years old. She won’t automatically earn an invite to the European Championships based on time, but seems likely that she will be chosen under the provision of the Russian qualifying procedures that allows them to choose a number of high-potential junior swimmers for the championship.

The top men’s swim of the day came in the 100 breaststroke, where defending 200 meter World Champion Anton Chupkov lead the way with a new personal best of 59.15 to win. His previous best time was a 59.39 in this event. This new best time will begin the drum beat for a possible World Record in the 200 breaststroke, where his best time of 2:06.96 is just three-tenths from breaking Ippei Watanabe’s record of 2:06.67 in that event.

Kiril Prigoda took 2nd in 59.27, booking his ticket for Euros, while Ilya Khomenko was 3rd in 59.48 – fast enough, but not placing high enough, for a guaranteed spot in Glasgow.

Other Finals Results

• Ilya Druzhinin won the men’s 1500 free in 15:03.36, which was 4 seconds ahead of the field but also 5 seconds shy of the European Championship qualifying standard.
• Daria K. Ustinova won the women’s 200 backstroke in 2:07.84. Both she and Anastasia Andreeva (2:09.25) both qualified for Euros.
• St. Petersburg won the women’s 800 free relay, including a field-best split of 1:57.16 from Andrusenko.

Finals Results By Event (in Russian)

• Men’s 1500 free
• Men’s 100 breaststroke
• Women’s 100 fly
• Women’s 50 free
• Women’s 200 back
• Women’s 800 free relay

Semi-Finals Highlights

• Vlad Morozov, who broke a 50 back national record on Friday, qualified 1st through in the 100 free in 48.34. Danila Izotov, swam a 48.56 to qualify 2nd. That’s exactly the time he went at last year’s World Championships, and the 3rd time in the last year he’s been 48.5 (his best time is a 48.1, done all the way back in 2013).
• Teenager Daria Chikunova qualified 1st in the 100 breast in 1:07.36. Vitalina Simonova and Yulia Efimova tied for 2nd in 1:07.92.