World Aquatics Approves Kliment Kolesnikov For Neutral Athlete Status

World Aquatics has granted two-time Olympic medalist Kliment Kolesnikov neutral athlete status, allowing him to return to international competition.

Kolesnikov, 24, was originally unpleased the conditions for Russia athletes returning to global competition as neutral athletes. However, he changed his mind at the beginning of this year, committing to swim at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships and the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

“Before our swimmers competed at the [short course] World Championships in Budapest, my position on the neutral status was neutral,” Kolesnikov told Metaratings.ru, a Russian publication focused on sports betting, when he announced his plans to compete internationally. “I expressed dissatisfaction with the existing set of rules for participating in competitions. But when the guys returned from the World Championships, I heard from them more than once that it would be very good if the whole team, including me, participated in the competitions.”

Russia sent 28 swimmers to compete at the 2024 Short Course World Championships under a neutral flag. Racing as “Neutral Athletes B” the team finished second on the medal table with six golds and 10 total medals. The men’s 4×100 medley team closed out the meet with a world record.

Kolesnikov continued, “after that, I started thinking that it wouldn’t be very good for me to sit here while the entire team competes in Singapore and wins medals. I could also contribute to this: both in the relay and in individual events. I repeat: my plans now include preparing for Singapore. We’ll see how things go from here.”

The list of neutral athletes, published by Aquatics Integrity, updated to include Kolesnikov during the 2025 Russian Swimming Championships. Kolesnikov’s backstroke highlighted his week in Kazan. He posted the fastest times in the world this season in the 50 and 100 backstroke, swimming 23.90 and 52.04.

His 23.04 ties himself as the fifth-fastest performance in history, giving him eight of the top ten times. He set the world record at 23.55 in 2023 after Russian athletes were banned from international competition. His 51.82 lifetime best in the 100 backstroke makes him the second-fastest swimmer in history.

Kolesnikov last competed at a major international meet at the 2021 Short Course World Championships.