Shymanovich & Shkurdai Set To Race At 2020 Grand Prix Malmö

2020 GRAND PRIX MALMÖ

• Friday, March 6th – Sunday, March 8th
• Hylliebadet, Malmö, Sweden
• 50m (LCM)
• Entry Lists/Results

The 2020 Grand Prix Malmö is set to take place this weekend and although host nation powerhouse athletes such as Sarah Sjostrom and Michelle Coleman are absent from the start lists, there is still plenty of talent ready to put on a show.

This Grand Prix serves as an Olympic qualifier in terms of FINA sanctioning, which means we’ll be seeing outside swimmers descending up on Hylliebadet to try to nail down some Tokyo-worthy efforts. Among them are a set of Belarusian athletes, including breaststroking ace Ilya Shymanovich, butterfly maestro Anastasiya Shkurdai, and teammate Yauhen Tsurkin.

Shymanovich currently ranks #1 and #2 in the world in the men’s 50m and 100m breaststroke events, respectfully. In the former sprint, the 25-year-old owns a season-best of 26.78, while he owns a season-best of 58.73 in the latter, both of which he produced last August during Tokyo stop of the FINA World Cup.

For her part, Shkurdai took the women’s 100m fly gold medal at the 2019 European Short Course Championships, setting a national record o f56.21 in the process.

Additional competitors from outside Sweden set to compete here include Danes Alexander Norgaard and Anton Ipsen, as well as Austrians Patrick Staber, Marlene Kahler, Christopher Rothbauer and Claudia Hufnagl.

For the home nation, look for the likes of Simon Sjodin, Robin Hanson, Erik Persson and Adam Paulsson to make some waves over the course of the 3-day meet.