Five champions in one day: Female Russian stars strike gold on home territory at the European Short Course Swimming Championships

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National butterfly record holder Svetlana Chimrova took gold at 200m and the nation's women's 4x50m relay team also triumphed on a glorious day for Russian swimming at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Kazan.

Former European 4×100m medley champion Chimrova was not far off beating her own personal best and the Russian record as the 25-year old narrowly took the 200m butterfly title.

The 25-year-old beat Dane Helena Bach by just 0.05 of a second, finishing in 2.04.97.

That is 0.61 seconds slower than the unbeaten time time she clocked at the Russian Championships in 2017.

🏊‍♀️ 200M PAPILLON
🥇 Svetlana Chimrova 🇷🇺 2:04.97
🥈 Helena Rosendahl Bach 🇩🇰 2:05.02
🥉 Ilaria Bianchi 🇮🇹 2:05.43 #Kazan2021 pic.twitter.com/zZdD1oL4xr

— MR.CARTER (@NelsonCarterJr) November 4, 2021

There was less than 0.3 seconds between the top three teams in the relay race as Russia's women stormed to another nail-biting victory.

Maria Kameneva, Nika Godun, Arina Surkova and Daria Klepikova finished in 1.44.19, beating Sweden by 0.13 seconds, with Italy a further 0.14 back.

Kameneva was not finished there as she sealed an astonishing 12th senior gold medal of her career.

The four-time champion at the 2019 European Championships added silver in the 100m complex in Kazan to her vast haul of honors.

22-year-old Kameneva beat Sweden's Sara Sjostrom but was eclipsed by Aliya Tchorzh, of Poland, by an agonizing 0.01 of a second.

Having called on fans to passionately support her beforehand, Kameneva shared her joy on social media after another memorable performance.

Elsewhere, former 100m short course world record holder Vladimir Morozov's heat was so tight that he tied for bronze in the men's freestyle 50m.

Morozov was level with Poland's Pavel Urashek on 20.95 seconds, finishing behind Lorenzo Zazzeri, of Italy, and Hungarian winner Sebastian Szabo.

The World Cup champion has also taken bronze in the 4x50m freestyle and silver in the 4x50m medley.

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November 05, 2021 at 12:15AM
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