Three national records fell in the heats of the men’s 50m backstroke this morning including two set by swimmers with past or current affiliation with the NCAA.
BELARUSIAN NATIONAL RECORD
Pavel Sankovich of Belarus broke his own national record in order to become the first Belarusian swimmer to ever dip under 25-seconds in the 50m backstroke.
The former swimmer for the Florida State Seminoles was a 24.97 this morning in order to take the eighth seed overall. With that performance, he has the opportunity to make finals tonight in the semis.
ESTONIAN NATIONAL RECORD
Current USC swimmer Ralf Tribuntsov managed to set a new Estonian national record en route to finishing 21st in the heats of the 50 backstroke.
At the touch, Tribuntsov was a 25.45 to better his own 25.74 record that he set at the 2014 Estonian national championships.
Both of these swimmers will have their hands full in a final which will feature French swimmer Camille Lacourt, Matt Grevers, Mitch Larkin, and even more talent.
In order for either of these two swimmers to make the championship final, they’ll likely need to be a 25-flat or better. It’s looking as though at least half of the finalist at this point can put up a time under 25-seconds.
polka’s pr is 24.80 from this yr. he also went 25.08 las yr