Oleksandr Zheltyakov Notches 1:56.49 Ukrainian Record In 200 Backstroke At Euro Juniors

2023 EUROPEAN JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, July 4th – Sunday, July 9th
• Sports and Recreational Center “Milan Gale Muškatirović”, Belgrade, Serbia
• Prelims at 10am local (4am EDT)/Finals at 5pm local (11am EDT)
• LCM (50m)
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• Day 1 Prelims Recap |Day 1 Finals Live Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Recap | Day 2 Finals Live Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Recap | Day 3 Finals Live Recap

At the 2023 European Junior Championships, Oleksandr Zheltyakov reset his own Ukrainian record in the 200 backstroke, winning the semi-final with a time of 1:56.49. He broke his own mark of 1:57.18, which he first set in April 2022 and equaled roughly one year later at the Stockholm Swim Open in April 2023.

Zheltyakov’s final 50 at the European Junior Championships was the key to his ability to crack the record as the opened up in similar speed to his former best times. He closed with 28.97 compared to the 30.38 and 29.54 he closed in during his previous swims.

Split Comparison:

This semi-final swim was a solid drop from Zheltyakov’s 1:59.68, which made him second overall behind Ireland’s John Shortt who set a new Irish record of 1:58.65.

Zheltyakov holds the Ukrainian record in both the 100 and 200 backstrokes, with the 100 record of 53.98 from back in 2021. He swam that time at this meet two years ago, the 2021 European Junior Championships, where he won silver to Ksawery Masiuk (53.91). He is entered in the 100 backstroke at the 2023 Euro Juniors as the top seed with that 53.98 national record.

Zheltyakov nearly won the semi-final round by two seconds, getting to the wall ahead of France’s Merlin Ficher, who swam 1:58.45 for second place. Other top entrants in the final will be Ireland’s John Shortt (1:59.08) and Italy’s Christian Bacico (1:59.28) and Daniele del Signore (1:59.74).