{"id":616916,"date":"2025-07-20T09:31:48","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T16:31:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=616916"},"modified":"2025-07-20T15:30:50","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T22:30:50","slug":"world-champs-profile-kliment-kolesnikov-returning-to-worlds-for-first-time-since-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/world-champs-profile-kliment-kolesnikov-returning-to-worlds-for-first-time-since-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"World Champs Profile: Kliment Kolesnikov Returning to Worlds for First Time Since 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

World Champs Profile: Kliment Kolesnikov Returning to Worlds for First Time Since 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Leading into the start of the World Championships later this month, Swimming World will publish a handful of short profiles on top contenders for the podium in Singapore. Our next entry in this series features Russia\u2019s Kliment Kolesnikov, who will compete under the Neutral Athletes B banner at Worlds.<\/p>\n

Kliment Kolesnikov<\/strong>
\nRussia (Neutral Athletes B)<\/strong>
\nEvents:<\/strong> 50 Freestyle\/50 Backstroke\/100 Backstroke<\/p>\n

The Road to Singapore<\/h3>\n

Kolesnikov has not raced at the World Championships since the 2019 edition in Gwangju, due to World Aquatics\u2019 ban on Russian athletes for their homeland\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. Kolesnikov was also not at the 2024 Olympic Games, but will be in action in Singapore under the Neutral Athletes B umbrella.<\/p>\n

Kolesnikov will be favored for the podium in the 50 backstroke and 100 backstroke. The world-record holder in the 50 back, he enters action with the fastest time in the world at 23.90. His 52.04 mark from the Russian Championships is now No. 2 in the world, following South African Pieter Coetze’s 51.99 at the World University Games. Kolesnikov is ranked 24th<\/sup> in the 50 freestyle at 21.88.<\/p>\n

Top Career Achievement<\/h3>\n

At the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Kolesnikov was te silver medalist in the 100 backstroke, going 52.00 to finish just .02 behind countryman Evgeny Rylov. While he\u2019s the world-record holder in the 50 back, Kolesnikov is the No. 2 performer in history in the 100 backstroke, on the strength of a 51.82 performance.<\/p>\n

Previous World Champs Hardware<\/h3>\n

The 25-year-old has won three medals at the long-course version of the World Champs, with all three podium finishes arriving at the 2019 Worlds. In addition to earning a pair of relay medals for Russia, Kolesnikov was the bronze medalist in the 50 backstroke, the event that has become his signature discipline.<\/p>\n

Stat Fact<\/h3>\n

Kolesnikov owns nine of the 11-fastest times in history in the 50 backstroke, which explains his heavy-favorite status in the event in Singapore. His world record of 23.55 is .16 faster than the No. 2 performer of all-time, American Hunter Armstrong (23.71), a sizable gap for a 50-meter race.<\/p>\n

World Champs Profiles<\/strong><\/p>\n