Budapest (AFP)
The young Russian Kliment Kolesnikov became the first man to swim the 50m backstroke in less than 24 seconds by improving his world record by seven hundredths, in 23 sec 93, from the semi-finals at the European Championships, Monday in Budapest. .
Kolesnikov (20) set the previous benchmark - 24 seconds sharp - at the 2018 European Championships in Glasgow, where he won three gold medals (50m backstroke, 100m backstroke and 4x100m men).
The 50m backstroke is not an Olympic race, like the other two 50m specialty races.
Ten weeks before the Tokyo Olympics, Kolesnikov is also registered for the start of the 50m, 100m and 100m backstroke in the Hungarian basin.
He is there with the best world performance of the season over 100 m, in 47 sec 31, and the second in 100 m backstroke, in 52 sec 24.
The young Russian swimmer is progressing: on the queen race, the 100m, he lowered his personal best, which then dated from 2018, by more than seven tenths in two days in April.
On 100 m backstroke, he planed it by almost three tenths in the same interval.
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