Maria Kameneva Goes 56.7 Back, Splits 52.1 Free On Night 1 of SC Russian Nats

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

Maria Kameneva had two big swims on opening night of Russia’s Short Course Nationals, including the #7 time in the world this year in the 100 back.

Kameneva led semifinals of that 100 back, going 56.78 to move to #7 in the world this season. Other than Minna Atherton‘s 54.89 world record in the ISL and Kira Toussaint’s Dutch Record, no other swimmer has been under 56 in the 100 back this season. Kameneva is in fact four tenths off of a Russian record in the event. The standing national record is 56.36 set by Ksenia Moskvina back in 2009 at the height of the super-suit era. Kameneva has a chance to knock down the record in tomorrow night’s final. She’s the top qualifier by 1.4 seconds.

The 20-year-old Kameneva returned not long after to anchor the 4×100 free relay team for her St. Petersburg club. Kameneva split 52.14, running down the field to help her relay win by a second. Her current lifetime-best, according to SwimRankings.net, is 52.47 from a flat start. The Russian record is 52.02, so Kameneva might be in the mix for another record at some point if she goes after an individual 100 free.

In another semifinal, Kliment Kolesnikov easily took the top qualifying spot, going 51.01 in the 100 back. He’s the national and European record-holder with his 48.90 from 2017.

Martin Malyutin had a big swim to win gold in the 400 free. His 3:38.63 ranks #2 in the world this season, behind only Elijah Winnington’s ISL Budapest swim. The time is still a second off his career-best though.

Other event winners on day 1:

• Aleksandr Kudashev went 1:51.20 to win the men’s 200 fly. That’s a career-best for him by half a second and ranks 4th in the world this season.
• Veronika Andrusenko topped the women’s 200 free in 1:54.33, six tenths ahead of the field.
• Irina Krivnogova went 4:34.84 to win the women’s 400 IM by more than four seconds. She’s only about three seconds off a 2009 national record.
• Daniil Pasynkov won the men’s 200 IM title in 1:54.28 – he had to hold off a stiff charge from Aleksandr Osipenko to win by just six one-hundredths.
• Moscow won the men’s 4×100 free relay, getting a 45.93 anchor split from Vladislav Grinev.