Zhikharev Grabs 100 Fly Gold Over Minakov To Open 2023 Swimming Cup Of Russia

2023 SWIMMING CUP OF RUSSIA

• Monday, May 1st & Tuesday, May 2nd
• Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia
• LCM (50m)
• Results

Many swimmers who competed at the Russian Swimming Championships last month are back in the water here in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk for the Swimming Cup of Russia.

This two-day competition is run as timed finals, which means the athletes need to put up their best efforts right off the bat in this rapid-fire format.

Making his presence known on day one was 23-year-old Petr Zhikharev in the men’s 100m butterfly. Zhikharev posted a time of 51.66 to get the edge over Andrei Minakov, with Minakov settling for silver in 51.77.

Zhikharev opened in 24.32 to Minakov’s 24.77 with the pair closing in 27.34 and 27.00, respectively as the only racers to get under 54 seconds in the timed final.

Zhikarev’s time here is slower than the 50.88 he punched last month to rank 4th in the world this season. As for Minakov, the former Stanford swimmer was also quicker in April, hitting 51.23 to rank 8th in the world.

Minakov recently entered the NCAA transfer portal, meaning he’s on the move for the next step in his collegiate swimming career.

Just one woman got under 2:12 in the 200m fly, as Svetlana Chimrova hit 2:08.52 to grab the gold in the 5-swimmer race.

Chimrova opened in 1:02.22 and closed in 1:06.30 to easily defeat the field and come within striking distance of her season-best 2:08.09 logged at last month’s Russian Championships.

Arina Surkova was another winner to open this competition, with the 24-year-old striking gold in the 50m fly. Surkova got to the wall in 25.80, half a second off her 25.30 from last month. That previous effort ranks the Russian #2 in the world this season.

Additional Day 1 Notes

• Daria Ustinova got her hand on the wall first in the women’s 100m free, clocking 55.27 to get the win over Daria Mullakaeva. Mullakaeva scored the only other sub-56 second effort of the field in 55.69 as tonight’s silver medalist.
• Vladyslav Hrynev got it done for gold in the men’s 50m free, posting 22.30. That gave him the edge over runner-up Oleg Kostin who touched just .05 later in 22.35.
• Newly-minted 200m breast World Record holder Evgenia Chikunova earned 50m breast gold in 30.96.
• Kirill Prigoda topped the men’s 100m breast podium in 1:00.19, just .04 ahead of Ivan Kozhakin who snagged silver in 1:00.23.
• Tokyo relay medalist Martin Malyutin earned 200m free gold in 1:47.27, beating the pack by over a second for a new season-best.