Swimming

The last World Aquatics Championship was a breakthrough for Russian swimmers in the pool. For the first time since 2003, they managed to win three victories, and ten medals have not been subject to since 1994. It is quite difficult to predict such a success this time, but there is every reason that Russians will approach it. At least, all the heroes of the competition in Budapest are still in the ranks and are in excellent shape.

Iron contender for the protection of the world title remains Eugene Rylov. In the championship of Russia, he swam 200 meters backstroke for 1:54 exactly - no one in the world has yet overcome the barrier at 1:55. He will also qualify for a medal at a distance of half the length, where his rival will be the rising star Clement Kolesnikov. Together, they also selected a 50-meter swim - in this type of program, Kolesnikov is the current world record holder and winner of the third result of the season among all participants.

The brassist Anton Chupkov at a distance of 200 meters has excellent chances of winning. True, the current world champion is rapidly catching up with the Japanese Ippay Watanabe - in the correspondence rivalry at the national championships, the Russian won only two hundredths of a second. In the other two distances, Briton Adam Petey will almost certainly get gold, but the Russians also have a chance to be in prizes, first of all from Kirill Prigoda, who showed good form at the Universiade in Naples.

In the freestyle swimming team in Russia will present two rapidly progressing athletes. One of them is Martin Malyutin. 19-year-old swimmer is the leader of the season at a distance of 200 meters - while his result is 01: 45.46 no one has exceeded. Another "dark horse" can be called Vladislav Grinyov - a swimmer who never stood out in personal distances broke a national record at the Russian Championship, swimming 100 meters for 47.43 in the semi-finals. This season, only Australian Kyle Chalmers showed the best seconds.

The proven athletes, such as Vladimir Morozov, Alexander Krasnykh, Mikhail Dovgalyuk and Mikhail Vekovischev, have not disappeared anywhere either. The first two can make their way into the finals - Morozov at a distance of 50 and 100 meters, and Red at 200 and 400 meters, after which they can try their luck and compete for medals. At the same time, Russians have a high chance of becoming prize-winners in both races.

Finally, in the final 50m butterfly stroke, you can expect two Russians at once - Oleg Kostin and Andrey Zhilkin. They both are in the top five best swimmers of the season, so you can not discount them. At a distance of 100 meters, Russia will be represented by Andrei Minakov, a six-time champion of last year’s Youth Olympic Games. He confidently shows the results at the level of the first eight of this season and can become the secret weapon of the Russian team in the combined relay. It was in the butterfly that the team lacked a quick swimmer for a long time.

The chances of girls on medals are traditionally lower than men's, but they can replenish the piggy bank team. First of all, we are talking about Yulia Efimova. Two years ago, she collected a full set of medals in breaststroke and can easily repeat that achievement - she is in the top three of the season at 50, 100 and 200 meters. True, at the longest distance, Efimova may not perform to increase her chances for the other two, where her main rival is the American Lilly King.

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If the Russian woman refuses to defend the title of world champion at a distance of 200 meters, then Maria Temnikova will try to protect her. Also, the 14-year-old Yevgenia Chikunova can still come to the World Cup. She is the champion of Russia and the owner of the sixth result in the world, but the coaches still allow her only to junior competitions.

Daria Vaskina can become a new star of navigation. The 16-year-old athlete selected to participate in the swims of 50 and 100 meters on the back, and with very good results that allow her to hope to participate in the final. And at the “fifty dollars” Vaskina may even be in prizes - along with Maria Kameneva she is in the top six athletes of the season, from which you can cross out Anastasia Fesikova, who passed the national selection in this form.

Several more Russian athletes can reach the finals - Arina Surkova in the butterfly stroke at 50 meters, Svetlana Chimrova at a distance twice as long, Maria Kameneva in the crawling sprint, Anastasia Fesikova in the 100-meter backstroke. The results of this season do not allow them to confidently claim medals, but the situation may change for the World Cup.

But in the combined relay Russian woman may try to win at least bronze. The team, which includes Efimova, Chimrova and Kamenev, and in the starter position there is a choice from Fesikova and Vaskina, should claim a lot.

Also, do not forget that in the World Cup medals are played in mixed relay races, which involve two men and two girls. However, these disciplines are the most unpredictable, especially the combined swim. Depending on how much attention other participants and the Russian national team will pay to these relays, the balance of power can change dramatically.

Diving

There is no limit to the dominance of Chinese jumpers into the water, and therefore for all the other participants in the World Championships, they will win at least one medal for happiness. The Russian national team at the same time has the right to count on something more. Domestic jumpers have excellent chances to win awards in several types of programs.

This season, the current vice-champions of the world in synchronized diving from a 10-meter tower Viktor Minibayev and Alexander Bondar performed more stably. In the five stages of the World Series, they remained outside the prize-winning three only once. Cooper also won medals in individual competitions three times.

The mission will be assigned to Nikita Schleicher to replace the Olympic champion Ilya Zakharov, who has undergone an operation on the meniscus and has not yet managed to return to the previous level. This season, the 21-year-old athlete has not yet let him down - together with Yevgeny Kuznetsov, he twice won the World Series in synchronized diving from the 3-meter springboard, and at the same time he rose to the podium several times in jumping from the tower with his age-mate Julia Timoshinina.

The most problematic discipline is the women's springboard. This year, completed a career two-time winner of the last World Cup Nadezhda Bazhina. Now all hopes are connected with the infamous diving of Christina Ilinykh and Maria Polyakova in the world of diving, but they did not win personal awards this season. In synchronized jumps, Uliana Klyueva and Vitaly Korolev showed the best result, taking the fourth place at the World Series stage in Kazan.

Water polo

At the last World Championships, the men's volleyball team of Russia reached the quarterfinals, which was its best result since 2007. But this time the water polo players will not perform at the main tournament of the year - it was an impossible task to qualify through the European Championship. But as usual at the championship of the planet will be the girls, who invariably are among the contenders and medals.

At the last seven world championships, the women's team reached the semifinals and took bronze medals five times, including two years ago, as well as at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. To get more valuable rewards wards Alexander Gaidukov has not yet succeeded. But now the national team will have a chance to make a step forward, since it is at least not inferior to itself of the sample of the past world championship.

This is confirmed by the results of the World League Super Final, which took place just a month ago. At the group stage, the Russians lost only to the unbeatable US team, and then reached the semifinals, where they lost to the Italians in a penalty shootout. In the match for bronze, the Russian team beat the reigning European champions from the Netherlands.

In the group stage of the World Cup, the girls will play with Canada, Hungary and South Korea. If Russians take first place in the quartet, they can already meet with the USA in the semifinals, which will be very unpleasant - now you can’t imagine a more dangerous team in the women's water polo. In the event that the paths with the Americans in the playoffs do not intersect, the Russian team will have a chance to reach the final, as all the other teams will be on the shoulder of the girls.

Synchronized swimming

The program of synchronized swimming competitions has undergone minor changes. To the nine disciplines in which medals are drawn, a tenth has been added - competitions in acrobatic groups, also known as “highlights.” The rest of the discipline remained unchanged.

The Russian national team, as usual, will aim to win the maximum number of gold medals. The last defeat of the Russians in women's competitions is dated 2007. Since then, the World Cup gold has been won over rivals either in mixed-pair competitions, which are not yet included in the program of the Olympic Games, or in combination, when Russian women refused to participate because of the high load.

The main event in synchronized swimming will be the reunion of the duet Svetlana Romashina and Svetlana Kolesnichenko. The girls, who have 31 world champions for two, have already performed together in 2013 and 2014, after which they didn’t meet again in one way or another. Now they intend to go to the Olympics together in Tokyo, and the competitions in Gwangju will be the first serious test for them. At the same time, they decided to share the solo competitions equally - Kolesnichenko will show the technical program, and Romashina, who won at the Olympics back in 2008, will perform in arbitrary competitions.

The most unpredictable type of synchronized swimming will be mixed duets. Alexander Maltsev, the permanent leader of the Russian national team, has never managed to win two gold medals with partners at the same time. Only back at the European Championships did his duet with Maya Gurbanberdieva prove unbeatable for a year. In South Korea, they will again perform together.

Kicking-off after tomorrow #ArtisticSwimming will start in the morning (11:00 am local time)!

Routine for the first time at #FINAworlds! # FINAGwangju2019pic.twitter.com / tqJQ4c24KY

- FINA (@ fina1908) July 10, 2019

Open water

In open-air swimming, the Russian national team has the most modest chances for medals. Of course, marathoners should not be considered hopeless outsiders, but since 2007 they have not had a single victory, and the team has not won more than one medal since 2011.

The leader of the men's team is Evgeny Drattsev. Two years ago he became the bronze medalist at a distance of 25 km. In the same discipline at the last European Championships, Kirill Belyaev successfully performed, becoming the second. At short distances, Kirill Abrosimov can count on success, having three continental championships in his asset and fourth place in the five-kilometer heat at the last world championship.

In girls, the situation is much more complicated. None of the current national team has a successful experience of performing at international competitions. It is possible to single out unless the universal Anastasia Krapivina, who at least reached the top ten at the biggest starts.

CAPTION THIS! # OpenWater # waterisourworldpic.twitter.com / Do6ndrvlYs

- FINA (@ fina1908) July 6, 2019

Selection for the Olympics

The World Aquatics Championship will be the largest qualifying competition for the 2020 Olympics. In all Olympic disciplines, except for personal swim in the pool, licenses will be drawn to the Games in Tokyo.

The most difficult will be the selection of water polo. Only one best team will receive a quota and avoid additional selection. The Russian men's team cannot hope for it at all, while the women's team cannot. In Tokyo, the United States and Japan have already passed the selection, so with certain alignments, Russian women will be able to get to the Olympics even from third place, although the more realistic option is that they need to reach at least the final if American women become champions for the third time in a row.

The lion's share of licenses will be played in diving. In synchronized jumps to the Olympics, only the top three pairs will get. In individual competitions - 12 finalists. The rest of the trips will be played at the continental championships and the World Cup in 2020.

Olympic quotas will also be played in seven swimming races. The top 12 teams will be able to compete for medals in Tokyo next year. Four more countries will be selected by the best results shown 15 months before the Olympics. The time shown at the World Championships can also be counted.

There are no Olympic licenses per se, but in South Korea one can try to fulfill one of two standards in order to gain admission to the competition. Russian swimmers have basically already shown the desired results, but someone can start at the World Championships with an additional chance.

To take a certain place to get to the Olympics you need only swimmers in open water. At a distance of 10 km, in addition to medals, ten vouchers will be played out for men and women. This start is especially important for the selection, since only at the World Championships can you try to win two vouchers for the country. In all other qualifying tournaments, only one team license will be available.

Finally, the Olympic tickets will be played in synchronized swimming. But the Russian team can not think about it - the girls have already been selected in duets and groups.