Along with the Lausanne Swim Cup, the 2017 season wrapped up with a pair of meets in St. Petersburg, Russia, and Durban, South Africa. Check out all of the highlights below.

Salnikov Cup

St. Petersburg, Russia

Short Course Meters (SCM)

The annual Salnikov Cup in St Petersburg, Russia, finished up on Saturday with Kliment Kolesnikov again stealing the spotlight with a WORLD RECORD in the 100m SC backstroke (48.90) and three other commanding victories over the two-day short course meters meet.

The 17-year-old swam a world junior record 1:41.75 in the 200m freestyle to go with his 46.58 100m free and 23.18 50m back victories. 

European champ Kirill Prigoda swept the breaststroke races with a 25.94, 57.03, and 2:03.62 in the 50, 100, and 200, respectively, to end a breakout 2017. We also saw a rare race appearance from Kazakhstan Olympic champion Dimitriy Balandin, who mustered up efforts of 27.12, 58.98, and 2:08.98. 

Aleksandr Krasnyk took the 400m free in 3:40.38 and Louisville grad Grigory Tarasevich took the 200m back in 1:51.19 in a close finish ahead of Belarusian Mikita Tsmyh’s 1:51.42 and Dmitrii Maltcev in 1:51.53. Eighteen-year-old Olympian Iaroslav Potapov claimed the 1500m free in 14:41.72 off a dirty 26.43 last 50m sprint finish.

Veronika Andrusenko (formerly Popova) swam impressively with her 1:53.60 in the 200m free and 4:01.87 in the 400m free, marking season bests for her. Thirteen-year-old Aleksandra Sabitova claimed a double win in senior waters, with her 56.84 and 2:06.79 marking Russian junior records in the butterfly events. 

Evgeny Rylov returned to racing after shoulder rehabilitation post-Budapest, swimming 23.29 over the 50m butterfly.

KZNA Premier Champs & CWG Trials

Durban, South Africa

Long Course Meters (LCM)

In South Africa, Cameron van der Burgh and Chad le Clos officially qualified for their fourth and third Commonwealth Games, respectively — claiming multiple wins at the KZNA Premier Champs to spearhead a large national team to compete on the Gold Coast, Australia, in April. 

Van der Burgh picked up breaststroke wins in 27.28 and 59.89 (after a 59.63 in heats), and le Clos took the freestyle events in 49.74 and 1:48.28 and butterfly races in 24.06, 52.43, and 1:58.01 — no doubt amid some heavy training. 

Other notable performances included a breaststroke sweep from South Africa’s No. 1 female swimmer, Tatjana Schoenmaker, with 31.44, 1:07.89, and 2:26.46 in the breaststroke events. Eighteen-year-old Erin Gallagher smashed national records with her 25.35 and 54.93 in the 50-100m freestyles and a 58.93 blast in the 100m fly. Rising 15-year-old Dune Coetzee shone bright over the course of the week, throwing down a 1:01.15 and 2:12.52 in the 100m and 200m fly, respectively, and 2:02.68 in the 200m freestyle and 4:14.53 in the 400m to claim three victories. 

On the men’s side, Arizona grad Brad Tandy claimed another 50m free win in 22.33. Ayrton Sweeney had a good week with a 4:16.53 and 2:11.64 400m IM/200m breast double, and Tennessee’s Ryan Coetzee broke onto the national team with 24.19 and 52.57 butterfly performances to finish as the runner-up behind le Clos. 

By Bobby Hurley