Returning Kliment Kolesnikov Plus New Contenders Poised to Lead 100 Back in Singapore
Twenty-seven months after Aaron Peirsol became the first swimmer under 53 seconds in the 100 backstroke, he smashed through another barrier by clocking 51.94. This was at the height of the polyurethane suit era in 2009, which surely contributed to the American’s astounding times, and it was not until 2016 that anyone reached that world record, with Ryan Murphy taking down the mark at the Rio Olympics. Now, 51-second territory is still an exclusive club, with only seven men having ever gone that quick, and the world record belongs to Thomas Ceccon at 51.60, only 34-hundredths quicker than Peirsol swam all those years ago.
More recently, efforts in the 52-low range have become the standard for international contention, and no swimmer has gotten under 52 at a World Championships or Olympics since 2022, with Ceccon leading the way in the Paris Olympic final at 52.00. Murphy and Xu Jiayu were the only other men to swim faster than 52.40 for the entire meet, including relay leadoffs. Moreover, the event was dominated by experienced swimmers, with the then-23-year-old Ceccon the youngest of the top-four finishers (including Apostolos Christou) by four years.
The event is shaping up to look completely different at this year’s World Championships. The top-five swimmers thus far in this year’s world rankings include the eighth-place finisher from Paris, another swimmer who was eliminated in the semifinals plus a trio of men who were not present at the Games. Those three are all natives of Russia, a country largely excluded from international racing for the past three years following its invasion of Ukraine. A handful of Russian swimmers competed as neutral athletes at the Paris Olympics before a much larger group swam at the Short Course World Championships in December, where they totaled six gold medals and four silvers.
Russian men had been dominant in the backstroke events immediately prior to its exile, highlighted by Evgeny Rylov and Kliment Kolesnikov finishing 1-2 at the Tokyo Games before Rylov also won the 200 back. Rylov’s chances of ever returning to international racing appear slim thanks to his public support for the Ukraine war (and his poor form at the recent Russian Championships), but Kolesnikov, now 24, is ready to become a force again. He clocked 52.04 to win the 100 back at his domestic meet, just four hundredths off his silver-medal-winning time from 2021.
Just behind him was a teenager who won double gold at his first international competition. Miron Lifintsev captured titles in the 50 and 100-meter events at the Short Course World Championships in December, setting world junior records in both distances, and he has been just as strong in long course. He clocked 52.15 to place second behind Kolesnikov at the Russian meet, and he has actually been slightly quicker in the past, with a world junior record of 52.08 posted last summer. Lifintsev does not turn 19 until Saturday.
The efforts of Kolesnikov and Lifintsev two men locked Pavel Samusenko out of the World Championships despite his time of 52.40, which sits No. 5 in the world, although Samusenko would earn a ticket to Singapore with a time of 24.01 in the 50 back, where he finished behind only Kolesnikov (23.90).
Hubert Kos — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Meanwhile, Great Britain’s Ollie Morgan and Hungary’s Hubert Kos have made clear their intentions to shake up the hierarchy in the 100-meter event. Both blasted through their own national records at their respective national selection meets, with the 21-year-old Morgan going from 52.70 to 52.12 while Kos followed up a dominant NCAA Championships by dropping from 52.78 to 52.24. These swimmers were both in Paris but non-factors in the 100 back: Morgan faded to eighth in the final while Kos led the way through prelims before falling to 10th in the semifinals. He would, of course, rebound to capture Olympic gold in the 200-meter race.
At this point, though, Kolesnikov, Morgan, Lifintsev and Kos are the clear front-runners in the 100 back for 2025, with all four having all gone quicker than the 52.32 clocked by Xu for Olympic silver in July. Two further 20-year-olds have also clocked solid efforts in the months since the calendar flipped, with South Africa’s Pieter Coetze going 52.71 and Poland’s Ksawery Masiuk checking in at 52.90.
The only other man to swim sub-53 is Ceccon, who recorded a time of 52.84 in March. The Italian is currently training in Australia and has already posted some swift marks at the Australian Open Championships, so he could have a big 100-meter performance later this week. Neither Xu nor Murphy has raced since the Olympics.
Compared to most events, the men’s 100 back has been relatively stable in recent years, with Murphy and Xu consistently reaching the podium in the event since 2016. But these early-season times posted in Russia, Great Britain and Hungary indicate that this new quadrennium might look quite different.
