Oleg Kostin sets european record at Russian championships in Kazan

Day 2 of the Russian Short Course Swimming Championships wrapped up in Kazan.

Men's breaststroke, 100m

The swimmer from the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Oleg Kostin, is a four time winner of the men's 100m breaststroke event, and yet he earned another title in Kazan. Oleg set the new national and European record.

1. Oleg Kostin (Nizhny Novgorod Oblast) - 56.16

2. Ilya Khomenko (Rostov Oblast-1) - 57.19

3. Vsevolod Zanko (Moscow-1) - 57.43

"It gets more and more exciting to win. This is my 12th gold medal at the national championships and the 5th in a row in this event, and yet the will to win hasn't disappeared," noted the new record holder.

Men's butterfly, 100m

1. Aleksandr Sadovnikov (Kaliningrad Oblast) - 50.48

2. Aleksandr Kharlanov (Penza Oblast-1) - 50.57

3. Daniil Pakhomov (Saint Petersburg - Arkhangelsk Oblast) - 50.66

"I don't earn the national title or set a new personal record every single day. This is a great milestone for me. I did well the last year but wanted to beat my own result this time. I am pleased to do so, this is certainly a success! I've got my European berth even though I hadn't had any specific objectives for the Russian championships. Besides, the men's 100m is not my main event. I competed mostly for myself, in a training mode. Perhaps, this lack of pressure gave me an advantage," explained Aleksandr Sadovnikov.

"The men's 50m butterfly is ahead. I'm pretty consistent and confident in it. I didn't think I would be in this shape after the Universiade. I thought it would be much worse. So if I feel well I need to go and win, there's no third choice for an athlete. After that I'll train for the European championships. As I am qualified now, I need to take account of the responsibilities and show even better results. After all, the international level is higher and tougher than the national one. As the season ends, I'll think of the next steps and where to compete. For now I am concentrated on the results," said the swimmer.

Women's freestyle, 800m

1. Anastasia Kirpichnikova (Sverdlovsk Oblast-1) - 8:18.97

2. Anna Egorova  (Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug-Yugra – Kaliningrad Oblast) - 8:19.66

3. Valeriia Ermakova (Moscow Oblast - Lipetsk Oblast) - 8:26.85 

"I improved my results and got a berth to the European championships. I earned the national title, after all! That's a pretty good result. I didn't think much about the next projects. The season promises to be interesting. The European championships in Copenhagen and the tournament in Glasgow are scheduled afterwards. But for the moment I think only about the Kazan tournament. I also have the 400m, 200m, and relay events. The physical state is fine, and this means I have to compete for medals," added Anastasia.

Men's freestyle relay, 4x200

1. Moscow-1 (Artem Lobuzov, Mikhail Dovgalyuk, Aleksey Rtishev, Daniil Pasynkov) - 7:01.96

2. Krasnodar Krai-1 (Danila Izotov, Daniil Gradinar, Ruslan Alborov, Alexander Shumilov) - 7:03.39

3. Moscow-2 (Nikolay Snegirev, Petr Zhikharev, Evgeny Kulikov, Semen Makovich) - 7:03.94