RSCSC2017: gold for Yuliya Yefimova and records of Valiakhmetov and Kolesnikov

Day 2 of the Russian Short Course Swimming Championships saw 2 junior records being set and a title for Yuliya Yefimova.

Men's individual medley, 400m

The men's 400m individual medley was received with great acclaim by the Tatarstan spectators as an 18-year-old swimmer Eduard Valiakhmetov carried the title clocking the time enabling him to gain a berth to the European tournament. He improved his time in qualifications and finished 0.66 sec earlier than Daniil Pasynkov, breaking the national junior record. The previous Russian record holder, Semen Makovich, finished second.

1. Eduard Valiakhmetov (Republic of Tatarstan-1) - 4:04.23

2. Daniil Pasynkov (Moscow-1) - 4:05.29

3. Maxim Stupin (Moscow-2) - 4:05.68.

"I didn't expect neither gold nor any podium spot. I thought it would be tougher, but in the end I competed surprisingly well. My coach and I, we didn't wait for such a result. I have never shown the time like this. I am very pleased to go to the championships of Europe. It will be the first tournament of this kind for me. I will train hard and will go all out to enter the medal hunt," said the champion after the event.

"Although I am from Almetyevsk - not from Kazan - I have fans here and I could feel their support. I will try to advance more and more to show the best results. To compete as a part of the national team in Copenhagen is a great honour for me. I will also try myself in the 200m medley and butterfly. The tournament programme is intense but feasible," admitted Eduard Valiakhmetov. 

Women's breaststroke, 50m

The spectators gathered at the stands of the Aquatics Palace couldn't wait to see the women's 50m breaststroke event where the world champion Yuliya Yefimova took part. She took the crown in the event.

1. Yuliya Yefimova (Sakha (Yakutia) Republic) - 29.60

2. Natalia Ivaneeva (Volgograd Oblast-1) - 30.01

3. Anna Ganus (Krasnoyarsk Krai) - 30.49

"Silver is not a bad result. It's tough to compete with Yulia, although it is interesting. But I am still not pleased with my time. I could do better. I will sharpen my skills. Obviously, I trained for the Russian championships, it's one of the most important events of the season. The major goal is, of course, the Copenhagen berth," said Natalia Ivaneeva.

"To date, I am pleased with the medal, though the time is not so good. But it is ok for the state I am in right now," noted the Russian champion Yuliya Yefimova.

Men's backstroke, 100m

Kliment Kolesnikov topped the podium in this event and set the new world junior record. He also improved his result of the previous swimming race.

1. Kliment Kolesnikov (Moscow-1) - 49.84

2. Andrey Shabasov (Saint Petersburg-2) - 50.41

3. Nikita Ulyanov (Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Yugra) - 50.91

"Everything is great! I hoped to beat my own record and I did! The pressure was on as I needed to swim well to get into the national team, that's true. Although I partly did this work yesterday at the semifinal. Bue of course I had to win as well - after all, this is my first individual title at the Russian championships! Of course the 50m event is a priority to me, but you need to work well at the "quaters" as well, commented Kliment Kolesnikov.

Women's backstroke, 100m

1. Maria Kameneva (Saint Petersburg - Orenburg Oblast) - 57.21

2. Polina Lapshina (Sverdlovsk Oblast-1) - 57.40

3. Daria K Ustinova (Sverdlovsk Oblast-1) - 57.80.

"It's a great day - I gained my berth to the Europeans. It is a very good result for me. I've spent a lot of time to get ready to the championships. There are some secret peculiarities of the training sessions which proved to be fruitful. I still have other distances where I need to go all out. I hope I will succeed," Maria said.

Men's 4x50 team medley

1. Kaluga Oblast (Sergey Fesikov, Andrey Nikolaev, Mikhail Vekovishev, Andrey Arbuzov) - 1:32.83

2. Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (Maxim Tretyakov, Oleg Kostin, Ivan Zubritsky, Mikhail Dorinov) - 1:35.13

3. Novosibirsk Oblast-1 (Dmitry Lapshin, Sergey Geybel, Danny Markov, Aleksandr Kliukin) - 1:35.86.