Chupkov shortens the distance

By default, the main star of the Russian championship was Anton Chupkov.

The reigning champion and world record holder in swimming 200 meters breaststroke came to Kazan to first of all prove himself at a distance half as long.

Although Briton Adam Petey has been undefeated in it for several years now, the Russian swimmer was going to show that he can at least fight for silver or bronze when the big competitions resume.

Chupkov demonstrated that he really made good progress at the hundred meters.

In the final, he swam the distance in 58.83 seconds and set a Russian record.

With that time, the 23-year-old swimmer would have finished fourth instead of eighth at the last World Championships.

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Publication from WFTU (@official_vfp) Oct 27, 2020 at 3:27 PDT

At the proprietary distance of 200 meters, Chupkov could perform as he liked and still win the second gold.

He did not have a usual schedule of three heats, and in the final he showed a modest result for himself 2: 07.32, which nevertheless was almost three seconds better than that of the silver medalist Alexander Palatov.

Rich collection of Minakov

In turn, Andrei Minakov, the vice-world champion in butterfly swimming, became the most titled participant in Kazan competitions.

The 18-year-old took home five gold medals and two silver medals.

Minakov won his first three victories in various relay races, and he swam with a butterfly only in one of them.

In the men's and mixed race 4 × 100 meters freestyle, he showed himself well as a rabbit, showing first a time of 48.30 seconds, and then further improving it to 47.72 seconds.

In the final of the personal distance of 100 meters in freestyle, Minakov swam even better, stopping the stopwatch at around 47.57 - with a youth world record.

Such a result would have allowed Minakov to win the bronze medal of the World Championship last summer instead of Vladislav Grinev, who became the silver medalist in the current Czech Republic.

In swimming, Minakov's butterfly was expected to be both success and disappointment.

He confidently won the personal 100-meter swim with a result of 51.37 seconds, and in the semifinals at a distance twice as short he recorded a time of 23.05 seconds, setting the junior world record.

But in the final, the current vice-world champion Oleg Kostin said his word.

He won gold with a score of 22.82 seconds, while his young rival was left with silver.

Minakov also took second place on the last day of the Russian Championship in the combined men's relay.

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Publication from WFTU (@official_vfp) Oct 27, 2020 at 2:22 pm PDT

Chikunova's progress

A year ago, the swimming world learned about the young breaststroke player Evgenia Chikunova, who left Yulia Efimova herself behind at a distance of 200 meters at the Russian Championship.

That that success was not accidental, Chikunova Jr. (her sister Daria is also engaged in swimming) has now proved in Kazan.

The athlete, who will turn 16 in November, has won all three individual breaststroke finals.

And although the rivalry with Efimova did not take place, since she could not come to Russia from the United States, Chikunova still showed good results for her age and deserved her medals.

The time at the 200 meters was especially outstanding.

Evgenia swam the distance in 2: 21.87, which in recent years only a few adult swimmers have been capable of.

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Publication from WFTU (@official_vfp) Oct 28, 2020 12:36 pm PDT

Invincible Vaskina

Another young athlete, Daria Vaskina, won the most personal victories in women's competitions.

A year ago, she sensationally became the bronze medalist of the world championship in the 50-meter backstroke, and in Kazan she climbed to the highest step of the podium four times.

Vaskina was unmatched not only in a backstroke crawl, but also in a butterfly.

In both swimming styles, she became the best at distances of 50 and 100 meters.

Even if she did without personal and national records, the very fact that she manages to combine two different styles and achieve success in them from an early age already suggests that the 18-year-old athlete has great potential.

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Publication from WFTU (@official_vfp) Oct 29, 2020 3:14 PDT

Hope for Borodin

Combined swimming has long been not considered a strong point of Russian swimmers, especially at a distance of 400 meters.

However, in this most difficult form of personal swimming, a new star may soon appear.

17-year-old Ilya Borodin, who already has a Russian record behind him, won the 400-meter final with an outstanding time of 4: 11.50.

This result became a new youth world record and could have brought the young swimmer a bronze medal at last year's world championship.

Three days earlier, Borodin had already become the champion of Russia at a distance of 200 meters in a complex, swimming it in 1: 58.00.

He is now a two-time national record holder.

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Publication from WFTU (@official_vfp) Oct 29, 2020 3:25 am PDT