Breaststroke class: Russian swimmers win the medal standings of the World Cup in Astana

The Russian national team topped the medal standings of the third stage of the Short Course Swimming World Cup, which ended in Astana. Our athletes have won 20 awards — six gold, nine silver and five bronze. The teams of the Netherlands (6-3-4) and Belgium (5-3-0) followed. The Russians took the lead in the overall standings for the second stage in a row, having previously achieved success in Tashkent.

The triumph of the leaders

The Short Course Swimming World Cup, which became the last international test for our athletes before the 2026 World Cup, which will be held from December 1-6 in Beijing, has ended in Astana. After the competitions in Baku and Tashkent, three Russians could win the "triple crown", that is, victories over the same distance in all three stages. These are Evgenia Chikunova, Kirill Prigoda and Egor Kornev.

Prigoda first won the 50 m breaststroke, scoring 25.77 seconds. The Russian was able to beat Chinese Qin Haiyan (25.83) and Dutch Kaspar Corbo (25.87). A day later, Kirill was able to win the 100-meter breaststroke. He finished in 56.03 seconds, leaving behind Dutch Kaspar Corbo (56.86) and American Luc Barr (57.11). Prigoda had previously won gold in this discipline at the opening two stages of the World Cup, in Baku and Tashkent, and was able to win the triple crown (an additional $10,000 is required for this).

"I made one mistake in the 100 m, but it still didn't stop me from winning," Prigoda told reporters. — But at the World Cup, you will need to perform without mistakes. We will work with the coach and correct this mistake. There is still plenty of time before the launch in China.

Egor Kornev was also able to win the Triple Crown, and he added the highest standard award in Astana to the gold in the 50 m butterfly in Baku and Tashkent. The Russian covered the distance in 21.82 seconds, ahead of Teong Tzen Wei from Singapore (22.03) and Grigory Pekarsky from Belarus (22.16). But in another crown race, the 100 m freestyle, Egor became the second. Kornev covered the distance in 45.23 seconds, losing to Australian Olympic champion Cameron McEvoy in just 0.12 seconds. The bronze medal was won by the Dutchman Sean Nivold with a score of 46.72.

Evgenia Chikunova won silver in the 100 m breaststroke, showing 1.04,76. Only Irish Mona McSherry was faster than her (1.04,03). But on the second day of the competition, she was able to win the triple crown at her favorite 200 m breaststroke distance. Evgenia won by a significant margin, covering the distance in 2.16.57. Tess Schouten (2.20,41) and Mona McSherry (2.20,46) were almost four seconds behind.

— It was hard, of course, but I did it, and that's the most important thing. I wanted to swim out of 2.17, and I succeeded," the athlete said. — Such a big advantage over competitors? When I swim the first hundred, the girls start with me. I felt it in the previous stages. My rivals won't let me go far anyway. And for me, it's such a mental workout to withstand such an onslaught, but at the same time continue to swim confidently and try to finish powerfully.

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The long-awaited victory

The final day of the competition started with a 400 m swim. Initially, the main fight took place here between the American Carson Foster and the Russian Ilya Borodin. Carson had the triple crown at stake: he had previously won the previous two stages, leaving our compatriot in second position. But this time, take the gold and get a special bonus of $10,000. He failed. Borodin nevertheless overtook the American and finished first (3:58.95). Italian Alberto Razzetti won silver (4:00.72), while Foster won only bronze (4:00.85).

"I had a goal to take the crown from him, because it didn't work out in the past stages," Match TV quoted Ilya Borodin as saying. — I used to be weaker, but now, apparently, the opponent is a little tired. I went through all three stages almost the same way. I think he's under strain right now.

Among the women, Ralina Gilyazova was pleased: in the 50 m breaststroke, she became the first (29.54), ahead of Florine Gaspard from Belgium (29.71) and Mona McSherry from Ireland (29.89).

The final day of competition in Astana brought us not only gold medals. So, Pavel Samusenko won silver in the 50 m backstroke. A day earlier, Pavel finished second in the 100 m backstroke. His result is 49.29 seconds. South African Peter Kutze became the winner (48.40), Estonian Ralf Tribuntsov finished third (49.88). Maria Osetrova also took second place in the 50 m backstroke with a score of 26.19 seconds. Andrey Minakov brought another silver medal to our national team. His result in the 100 m butterfly is 50.09 seconds. The first place was taken by Chinese Chen Jun'er (49.59).

Ivan Girev took third place in the 200-meter freestyle, and Grigory Vekovishchev won bronze in the 800 m. The 18-year-old swimmer set a Russian junior record (7.38,29). Among the women, Daria Klepikova won bronze in the 100 m freestyle. Earlier, Daria finished third in the 50 m butterfly (25.08). Arina Surkova, another Russian, was second in the final heat at this distance (24.99 seconds). The winner was Belgian Roos Vanotterdijk (24.56).