“I look forward to the performance of our athletes at the highest level. We have done everything possible to ensure that sporting and material interests match. In Kazan, an athlete who won or repeated the result of the world champion in Fukuoka will receive one million rubles. This is an official decision, it was approved by the presidium,” Vladimir Salnikov, president of the All-Russian Swimming Federation, said on the eve of the competition.
The first winner of the cash bonus was Kliment Kolesnikov. He swam 100 meters on the backstroke faster than not only reigning Olympic champion in this distance Evgeny Rylov (took silver), but also American Ryan Murphy, who won gold in Fukuoka.
Along the way, Kolesnikov set a Russian record (51.82 seconds). By the way, Murphy’s score is 52.22. According to Kolesnikov himself, registration is more important to him than financial reward.
“In the distance, I felt like I was swimming fast enough. I’m glad I swam out of 52 seconds. During the Olympic cycle, he did not show faster than time. I realized that it is possible to swim, to go to this record. And the prize money is a nice bonus,” the athlete said.
By the way, Clement has an excellent opportunity to double his earnings. Today, the Russian in the swimming semifinal updated the world record in the 50 meters, swimming it in 23.55 seconds. The previous record belonged to American Hunter Armstrong (23.71).
We expect even faster seconds from Clement the day after tomorrow in the final. It should be noted that in Phu Quoc, the decisive swims at this distance have not yet taken place either.
