Russian Championships: Oleg Kostin Wins Chaotic 50 Fly
Oleg Kostin pulled out the right swim at the right time Thursday at the Russian Swimming Championships, winning the men’s 50 butterfly with a time of 23.15 seconds. The session also featured a Russian record by Oleg Kozhakin in the men’s 50 breaststroke.
His time was .01 seconds ahead of Egor Yurchenko. Third was Roman Shevlyakov in 23.26. All three are under the automatic qualifying standard for the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
Shevylakov had led the semifinals in 23.02, with Yurchenko following in 23.12 and Kostin third in 23.21. But Kostin, who owns the Russian record at 22.62 from 2023, did what it took in the final to get his hand to the wall first. (Andrei Minakov, who lowered his 100 fly record earlier in the meet, did not start in prelims of the event.)
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Thursday was the penultimate day of the six-day meet, heavy on semifinals to set up a sprint-filled final day in Kazan. The evening session featured just four finals.
The semifinals brought the biggest swim of the day, courtesy of Kozhakin. He went 26.46, clipping two tenths off Andrei Nikolaev’s record of 26.66 from 2022. Nikolaev was third in 27.32, with Kirill Prigoda between them in 26.98.
Ilya Borodin dominated the men’s 400 individual medley with a time of 4:11.39 that is under the Worlds auto qualifying time. It’s 1.3 seconds off his Russian record. Maxim Stupin was second in 4;13.94, with Alexey Sudarev third in 4:14.39.
Ksenia Misharina lowered her Russian junior record in the 1,500 freestyle, clocking in at 16:04.21. That improves the mark of 16:06.09 that she set in Kazan 364 days prior. It’s also a Worlds A cut, and it bested the field by 26 seconds.
Alina Gayfutdinova picked up another win by going 1:00.14 in the women’s 100 backstroke, though that’s shy of the Worlds cut. Milana Stepanova was second in 1:00.57, followed by Victoria Mashkina in 1:00.92.
St. Petersburg won the women’s 400 free relay. But on the runner-up squad from Voronezh Region, Daria Klepikova led off in 53.48, quicker by .05 than the time she used to win the 100 free. Klepikova also set the fastest time in semis of the 100 fly by a clear second. Her absence in the 50 free allowed Arina Surkova to lead the way in semis in 24.85, with the top three clustered within .05 seconds.
Egor Kornev led the way in the men’s 100 free semifinals in 47.42, nearly eight tenths up on the 48.20 of Vladislav Grinev. Minakov was third, with Kliment Kolesnikov fourth.
winning the men’s 50 butterfly with a time of 23.15
that’s slow