Swimming competitions within the framework of the international tournament "Games of Friendship" have ended in Kazan.
For the first time since the national championship held in April, the best Russian athletes got the opportunity to go to the start and test their strength on the track.
They competed with swimmers from Algeria, Belarus, Venezuela, Vietnam, Serbia, Syria, Sudan, Tajikistan, Ecuador and South Africa.
A real sensation at the tournament was made by 17-year-old Evgenia Chikunova.
In the 200m breaststroke, she finished two seconds faster than American Lilly King at the recent World Championships in Budapest.
She also won the hundred-meter race, but with a more modest result.
Other leaders of the national team looked less bright at the tournament in Kazan.
Of course, the lack of international starts affects the readiness of athletes, and the peak of form is planned for the All-Russian Spartakiad, which is still a month away.
Competitions will be held August 21-26 in St. Petersburg.
The least successful "Games of Friendship" was formed for Evgeny Rylov.
The two-time Olympic champion did not win a single medal in Kazan.
In the 100-meter backstroke, which he brilliantly won a year ago in Tokyo, Rylov was only fifth, losing to the winner, Kliment Kolesnikov, by almost two seconds.
With such a result at the World Championships, he would not even have made it to the semi-finals.
At a distance twice as long, Rylov stopped a step away from the podium, and took seventh place at fifty dollars.
The swimmer himself said that he was not as prepared as possible for the competitions in Kazan, because he was working “under the Spartakiad”.
And according to the head coach of the national team Sergei Chepik, the athlete should have taken a longer break from the competition.
“Evgeny Rylov is a two-time Olympic champion.
That says it all.
My personal opinion... Maybe if I were him, I would have rested a little more.
Therefore, it is best to ask him and his coach, ”the Sport-Express specialist quotes.
Against the background of Rylov, his constant competitor Kolesnikov, who won three gold and silver, looked good in Kazan.
A winning result in the 50 meters backstroke (24.16 seconds) would have allowed him to take at least third place in the World Championships and compete for victory, because only 0.04 seconds separated the leader Clement from the time.
At the same time, in May last year, during the European Championship, he broke the world record, overcoming this distance in 23.80.
The silver medalist of the Tokyo Olympics could have swung at a high result in the hundred-meter backstroke: he spent the first half of the swim faster than the world record, but lost speed in the second part.
Kolesnikov won the 100 freestyle with a result that would put him in the top five in Budapest, but 47.97 is not the numbers that the 2021 European champion would like to see at this distance.
Then he swam exactly 0.6 seconds faster, setting a record for continental championships.
According to the swimmer, the low results at the Friendship Games are due to the fact that most athletes did not set super-tasks for this tournament.
“If you tune in physically and are prepared for the fact that you are swimming for such seconds that no one has swum before you, then your general mood and mood for the start is completely different, everything is raised to the maximum, you get the last reserves out of yourself.
Now I am in such a working condition, when with all the guys in the same team, you understand who is ready for what, but nothing more.
If you do not take individual individuals who decided to prepare here and swim according to the world record, ”said Kolesnikov.
Anton Chupkov approached the Kazan competitions in good shape.
He won the 200m breaststroke in 2:07.19 - and it could have been second place in the World Championships if he competed in Budapest.
And the backlog from the winner is quite recoupable 0.12 seconds.
And Kirill Prigoda, who took second place in Kazan, could also compete for victory in the world championship, because he was only 0.06 seconds behind Chupkov.
In the hundred-meter breaststroke, the bronze medalist of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro showed time at the level of sixth place in the World Cup.
According to him, he plans to work on this distance for the Spartakiad.
“Today's result would be enough to make it to the final at the World Championships.
At this start, I really wanted to show myself at the “hundred”, perhaps the gap between the distances was affected - 100 meters on the fifth day ... For a long time I have not been able to break through the barrier of 59 seconds, I need to break it, and already the “hundred” will go much better " , - quotes the words of the athlete "Match TV".
Another World Cup medal could have been brought to Russia by Oleg Kostin in a fifty dollars butterfly.
In Kazan, he finished with a score of 22.78 - and the silver medalist of the tournament in Budapest showed the same seconds.
Summing up the results of the tournament, President of the All-Russian Swimming Federation Vladimir Salnikov noted that, despite the difficulties, the participants showed decent results.
Among other things, he noted the Russian record set by Ilya Borodin at a distance of 400 meters in individual swimming - 4:08.05.
“And for Ilya Borodin this is not the limit, although he showed a great time.
He has potential.
General impressions are very good.
The start was a success... It is clear that in the absence of rivals nearby, it is difficult to fight only against time, against oneself.
But, as for me, the results shown by the same Kolesnikov are very good.
And he will still fight for breaking the world record, he will storm it several times this year, ”said the head of the WFTU.