Russian media not too long ago caught up with Andrey Shishin, the coach of 4x Olympic medalist Evgeny Rylov, and world file holder Evgenia Chupikova.
Shishin wasn’t impressed with the boys’s backstroke outcomes from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
MatchTV, a Russian sports activities channel, reported this quote from Shishin (translated from Russian):
“It’s fairly unhappy that each ends in backstroke swimming had been slower than on the final Olympics. With out our guys, the backstroke seemed fairly modest.”
Rylov gained each backstroke occasions on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and fellow Russian Kliment Kolesnikov completed second behind Rylov within the 100 backstroke. World Aquatics banned Russian swimmers from competing within the Olympics because of Russia’s conflict in Ukraine. Some Russian athletes had been capable of compete below a impartial flag if they didn’t help the conflict amongst different standards. Nonetheless, just one swimmer ended up competing below the impartial flag. Rylov mentioned he wouldn’t signal any political declaration to compete.
In Rylov’s absence, Olympic males’s backstroke podium occasions had been slower throughout the board in Paris in comparison with Tokyo. Depth-wise, the ultimate qualifying occasions obtained sooner in Paris whereas the semifinal qualifying occasions remained barely sooner in Tokyo.
| Gold Medal | Silver Medal | Bronze Medal | Closing QT | Semifinal QT | |
| 100 backstroke – Tokyo 2020 | Evgeny Rylov (RUS) – 51.98 | Kliment Koleskinov (RUS) – 52.00 | Ryan Murphy (USA) – 52.19 | 53.2 | 53.77 |
| 100 backstroke – Paris 2024 | Thomas Ceccon (ITA) – 52.00 | Xu Jiayu (CHI) – 52.18 | Ryan Murphy (USA) – 52.39 | 52.95 | 53.93 |
| 200 backstroke – Tokyo 2020 | Evgeny Rylov (RUS) – 1:53.27 | Ryan Murphy (USA) – 1:54.15 | Luke Greenbank (GBR) – 1:54.72 | 1:56.69 | 1:57.96* |
| 200 backstroke – Paris 2024 | Hubert Kos (HUN) – 1:54.26 | Apostolous Christou (GRC) – 1:54.82 | Roman Mityukov (SUI) – 1:54.85 | 1:56.52 | 1:57.98 |
*notice: 1:57.96 was the semifinal qualifying time, however it represents seventeenth place as there was a scratch. The sixteenth place time was 1:57.86.
Rylov has not competed in an Olympic Video games or World Championships since Tokyo. He meant to compete on the World Friendship Video games, Russia’s substitute for the Olympic Video games, this September. Nonetheless, these had been postponed to 2025. Shishin has coached Rylov on and off all through the final quad in keeping with Match TV.
Shishin was impressed by prime male Olympic swimmers in non-backstroke occasions.
“In some disciplines there was actually a celebration and brilliant outcomes. I wish to notice, after all, the Chinese language within the 100-meter crawl, it is a large step ahead,” Shishin mentioned in reference to Pan Zhanle. “And naturally (Léon) Marchand.”
Chikunova
Russian world file holder Evgenia Chikunova plans to proceed competing solely domestically, saying the trail again to worldwide competitors is troublesome.
In response to a query about competing below impartial standing, the 19 year-old informed Sport Categorical “… I talked about what path I must take to attempt to return to worldwide competitions. It’s not straightforward, and that is placing it mildly.” (translated from Russian)
To ensure that Russian swimmers to return to worldwide competitors below a impartial flag, they have to make an enchantment and never present any help to Russia for its conflict in Ukraine. On the 2024 Olympics in Paris, just one Russian competed below the impartial flag. Notably, former Russian swimmer Anastasia Kirpichnikova started competing below the French flag amid the ban and gained a silver medal for France within the 1500. Chikunova says she was glad for Kirpichnikova’s success.
Chikunova says that she is going to ultimately return to worldwide competitors, however she plans to start the season competing solely domestically. Within the absence of worldwide rivals, she’s planning to hone the ability of swimming her personal race.
“I practice with the concept that I must battle solely with myself. With my information.”
Chikunova made worldwide headlines in April 2023 when she took 1.4 seconds off the 200 breaststroke world file, swimming a 2:17.55. Her 100 and 200 breaststroke occasions from the Russia Cup in July had been sooner than the Olympic profitable occasions in Paris. She mentioned the earlier 200 world file holder, Tatjana Smith, reached out to her and hoped to see her in Paris.
