Andrei Nikolaev Sets Russian 50 Breaststroke Record; Golden Double For Arina Surkova

Arina Surkova: Photo Courtesy: Mike Lewis/ISL

Andrei Nikolaev set a national 50 breaststroke record of 26.66 and Arina Surkova claimed a golden double as the Russian Championships concluded in Kazan.

Nikolaev took 0.06 off the previous mark of 26.72 set by Kirill Prigoda at the 2019 World Championships with the previous incumbent second in 27.17.

Surkova, who lowered her Russian 50 fly record to 25.61 on Wednesday, added the 100 title in 57.69 with Svetlana Chimrova second in 58.06.

She returned to claim the 50 free in 24.70 ahead of Rozalia Nasretdinova (24.88) and Maria Kameneva (24.90).

Vladislav Grinev enjoyed an emphatic 100 free victory in the absence of European gold medallist Kliment Kolesnikov.

Grinev, the 2019 world bronze medallist, split 22.72/25.06 to stop the clock at 47.78, the only man inside 48 and 0.88 ahead of Alex Shchegolev (48.66) with Vasily Kukushkin (48.87).

Kolesnikov was not the only no-show in the final session with Evgeny Rylov also absent despite leading the 200 back heats in 1:56.98.

The Olympic champion had been cleared to swim by FINA as his nine-month ban for attending a rally in support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine applies only to meets sanctioned by the world governing body.

In his absence, Aleksey Tkachev took the title in 1:57.57.

A final 50 of 35.70 propelled Evgeniia Chikunova past Vitalina Simonova and Maria Temnikova and into the wall first in the 200 breaststroke.

Simonova was 1.52secs ahead of the 2019 world champion with Temnikova second at the final turn but was exactly two seconds slower than Chikunova down the last length.

Chikunova stopped the clock at 2:23.38 ahead of Simonova (2:23.86) and Temnikova (2:25.16).

Anastasia Guzhenkova took the women’s 200 free in 1:57.86, Alexander Kudashev won the men’s 200 fly in 1:55.02 and Alexander Stepanov was the only man inside 15mins in the 1500 free in 14:58.23.

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