Rylov’s 22.80 Back, Egorova’s 8:16 Free Lead Russian Champs Day 3

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

Coming off of a stellar 48.8 100 back yesterday, Evgeny Rylov stayed hot at the Russian Short Course Championships, rattling his own national record with a 22.80 in the 50 back semifinals.

Rylov’s own Russian record is a 22.58 set at the 2018 Short Course World Championships. He hadn’t broken 23 since the year 2018, and his best swim in the International Swimming League this year was just 23.02. Rylov ultimately dropped about three tenths of a second off his personal best in the 100 back yesterday, so he’s on pace to break his own national record in tomorrow night’s 50 back final.

That 50 back did not feature long course world record-holder Kliment Kolesnikov. Kolesnikov won the 100 back over Rylov by a tenth last night, but did not compete in the 50 today.

Perhaps the most exciting final on day 3 was the men’s 100 fly. Russian junior record-holder Andrei Minakov led yesterday’s semifinals, but Mikhail Vekovishchev passed him up for gold in the final. Vekovishchev was 49.77, about two tenths off his career-best from 2019, but a tenth faster than Vekovishchev was at any point this ISL season.

Alexander Sadovnikov was second in 50.16, and Minakov faded to third in 50.22, a tenth off his best time and world junior record.

Other notable swims from day 3:

• Anton Chupkov led the 200 breast final, going 2:02.10 for the win. That’s about a half-second off his lifetime-best.
• Arina Surkova set two Russian records during the ISL season this fall. She leads the 50 fly semifinals in 25.76 – that’s still well off her national record from last month (24.87). But she’ll have a chance to go after that mark in tomorrow’s final.
• In the women’s 800 free, Anna Egorova went 8:16.26 to win by more than 13 seconds. That’s about four seconds off her career-best, and still about six off of a Russian record set by Anastasiya Kirpichnikova in 2019.