The fifth day of action from the 2018 Russian Swimming Nationals from Moscow concluded with a major upset. 2017 World Champion and second fastest performer in history, Yulia Efimova, finished second in the 200 breast final on night five.
Women’s 200 Breast
Efimova swam her usual race, where she builds her way through it and even splits her last three 50’s. She could not catch Vitalina Simonova as she had the lead from start to finish, ending with a 37.39 and 2:23.67. Efimova closed in a 36.42 but ended up second with a 2:24.02.
Daria Chikunova was third in the final (2:25.92). American students Anna Belousova (Texas A&M) and Maria Astashkina (Louisville) were fourth (2:26.80) and sixth (2:29.55) in the final respectively.
Men’s 800 Free
Yaroslav Potapov and Ilya Druzhinin went back and forth in the 800 timed final as Potapov outlasted Druzhinin with a 7:55.05 as he out-touched him at the finish. Druzhinin finished second at 7:55.10.
Maxim Travnikov was third in the final at 7:58.05.
Women’s 100 Back
Daria Ustinova used the fastest last 50 in the field to win the 100 back final with a 59.73. Ustinova came home in a 30.39 to beat Maria Kameneva and Anastasia Fesikova who tied for second. Fesikova was the early leader in the field, but the 27-year-old faded in the end and ended up tied for second place with a 59.94.
Polina Egorova was fourth in the final with a 59.96.
Men’s 100 Fly
Much like the women’s 100 back final, Alexander Sadovnikov used a strong back half to win the 100 fly final. Sadovnikov, who was seventh at the 50, came home in a 27.18 to win the 100 fly final in Moscow on Tuesday night. Sadovnikov touched in a 51.67 for the win. He swam by Daniel Pakhomov (51.96) and Andrey Minakov (51.99).
Early leader Alexander Popkov, who was the only one out in under 24 seconds (23.93) was fourth in the final at 52.14.
Men’s 200 Free
2017 World Championship bronze medalist Alexander Krasnykh won the 200 free final in Moscow with a 1:46.25 ahead of Mikhail Vekovischev (1:46.43) and Mikhail Dovgalyuk (1:46.49). The Russians got a fourth swimmer under 1:47 with Vyacheslav Andrusenko (1:46.89) completing the potential 4×200 free relay for the Russians. They were second in the relay in Budapest last summer and will have a chance to take on the British in their home country at the European Championships in August later this summer.
Notably in the race, veteran Danila Izotov took out the race with a 50.94, and finished with a 29.67 to fall to sixth place at 1:48.31.
Men’s 50 Breast
After the semi-finals were held earlier in the session, Oleg Kostin won the 50 breast final with a 27.26. He just out-touched Kirill Prigoda in the final who was second at 27.27. Ilya Khomenko was third in the race in Moscow at 27.34.
Karen Ferguson
DEFEATED! REALLY! She came second ?. That’s awesome NOT defeated!
Dima Stelmah