{"id":571036,"date":"2023-10-20T03:42:30","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T10:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=571036"},"modified":"2023-10-20T03:59:51","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T10:59:51","slug":"world-cup-budapest-day-1-prelims-ilya-shymanovich-returns-as-neutral-athlete-ninth-in-100m-breaststroke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/world-cup-budapest-day-1-prelims-ilya-shymanovich-returns-as-neutral-athlete-ninth-in-100m-breaststroke\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup Budapest, Day 1 Prelims: Ilya Shymanovich Returns As Neutral Athlete, Ninth In 100m Breaststroke"},"content":{"rendered":"

World Cup Budapest, Day 1 Prelims: Ilya Shymanovich Returns As Neutral Athlete, Ninth In 100m Breaststroke<\/h4>\n

Ilya Shymanovich<\/strong> returned to international competition as a neutral athlete when the third and final leg of the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup<\/strong> got under way on Friday in Budapest.<\/p>\n

Belarus pair Shymanovich and Anastasiya Shkurdai<\/strong> appeared in the men’s 100m breaststroke and women’s 50 free respectively.<\/p>\n

It follows the announcement by World Aquatics last month<\/a> that swimmers from Russia and Belarus – banned since the former’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 – could return as neutral athletes (NIA, Neutral Independent Athlete).<\/p>\n

Shymanovich, the 2021 world short-course 100 breaststroke champion, finished ninth in the prelims, locked out of the final by one place and 0.45secs while\u00a0Shkurdai was 15th.<\/p>\n

Olympic 200 fly champion Kristof Milak<\/strong> had been slated to make his return to competitive waters after withdrawing from the World Championships with physical and mental exhaustion.<\/p>\n

However, the crowd at the Duna Arena<\/strong> won’t be seeing their hometown favourite and it’s unclear when he’ll return to competition.<\/p>\n

Kaylee McKeown<\/strong> and Qin Haiyang<\/strong> head the respective women’s and men’s World Cup rankings after the meets in Berlin and Athens.<\/p>\n