Shymanovich 25.9 50 Br, Minakov 22.6 50 Fly Already In Salnikov Cup Heats

2020 VLADIMIR SALNIKOV CUP

• Monday, December 21st & Tuesday, December 22nd
• St. Petersburg, Russia
• SCM (25m)
• Live Results
• Live Stream

The annual Vladimir Salnikov Cup kicked off in St. Petersburg, Russia, with swimmers to the tune of Vladislav Grinev, Andrei Minakov and visiting Belarusian ace Ilya Shymanovich in the water.

27-year-old Shymanovich is coming directly from the Belarusian Short Course Championships which just concluded two days ago. There, the on-a-tear ISL star clocked the 3rd fastest SCM 50m breaststroke on record, posting a remarkable 25.39. That sits only behind World Record holder Cameron van der Burgh of South African and Emre Sakci of Turkey.

Already here in St. Petersburg, Shymanovich leads the men’s 50m breast heats, clocking a big-time 25.95 to fall just .01 outside of Kirill Prigoda’s meet record of 25.94. We’ll see what the Belarusian has in store come tonight’s final.

Grinev is leading the men’s 100m free with a morning outing of 46.98, splitting a comfortable-looking 22.54/24.44, while Minakov topped the 50m fly heats in a speedy 22.62.

Stanford-bound Minakov clocked a new World Junior Record at the just-concluded Russian Short Course Championships, earning the national title in a massive 22.34, so he’s already within striking distance with his 22.62 morning swim here.