19-Year Old Egor Kornev Breaks Through with 48.03 100 Free at Russian Nationals (Day 4)

2023 SWIMMING CUP OF RUSSIA

• Tuesday, July 25 – Sunday, July 30, 2023
• Kazan, Russia
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Live Video
• Live Results

The 50 meter stroke events continue to be the highlights of the week at the Russian Championships, with swimmers posting a pair of times that would have qualified them for medals if done at the simultaneous World Championships this week.

Russia and their allies Belarus have been barred from competing in the 2023 World Championships as a result of their invasion of Ukraine.

In the men’s 50 breaststroke semifinal, Ilya Shymanovich from Belarus qualified first through to finals with a 26.59. That time matches the swim by American Nic Fink that won silver at the World Championships; China’s Qin Haiyang won in Fukuoka in 26.29.

Earlier in the meet, Shymanovich won the 100 breast in 58.76, which would have just-missed a medal at the World Championships.

In another sprint event on Saturday, the men’s 50 fly final, Oleg Kostin swam 22.71, missing his own Russian Record from April by less than a tenth. Like Shymanovich, that time would have taken a silver medal at the World Championships, behind only Thomas Ceccon’s 22.68.

Maria Kameneva won the women’s 100 backstroke in 59.06. That shaves .04 seconds off her lifetime best in the event. She skipped her primary 100 fly, which held its final in the same session on Saturday, but including relays, secured her 3rd win of the meet.

That ties her with Kliment Kolesnikov, who set a World Record in the 50 back earlier in the meet, for the most gold medals at the meet. Kolesnikov swam 47.96 to lead the semifinals of the 100 free on Saturday; not far behind him in the semis was Ivan Girev in 47.99 and new talent Egor Kornev in 48.03.

Korev, who turns 19 this year, had a personal best of 48.70 coming into the meet from April’s National Championship meet. His best time coming into the 2023 calendar year was just 49.87, and his best time before 2022 was 51.31.

Other Day 4 (Saturday) Highlights:

• In the absence of Kameneva, Svetlana Chimrova lead the semis of the women’s 100 fly in 57.59.
• Arina Surkova led the semis of the women’s 50 free in 24.58, which is less than a tenth off her lifetime best from April. Kameneva, swimming the double, qualified 2nd in 24.65.
• Ilya Borodin won the men’s 400 IM in 4:09.80. That’s the third-fastest time of his career.
• Kseniya Misharina, who is only 14, won the women’s 1500 free in 16:25.69, which is a best time by seven-and-a-half seconds. With Anastasiya Kirpichnikova attaining French citizenship, Russia is lacking in women’s distance quality, though they have a lot of young talent. Misharina is now the fastest Russian woman in the event this year, followed by 15-year-old Sofia Daikova (16:27.73) and 16-year-old Polina Koziakina (16:31.22).