D'yakova is already in Paris, Minakov will fight for a spot at the European Championship.

      The qualifying championship of Russia in swimming starts in Kazan

      Photo: Real Time

      On June 6, the Russian swimming championship will kick off at the Kazan Palace of Water Sports, which will serve as a qualifier for the European Championship in Paris. What to expect from the tournament — in the preview of "Real Time."

      In the Tatarstan team, there are four medal contenders

      In the super sprint, Andrey Minakov (50 meters butterfly, 100 meters breaststroke and freestyle), as well as Dina Kiramova (butterfly) and Ralina Gilyazova (breaststroke) may reach the finals. The crown event of Tatarstan swimming — 200 meters freestyle — is currently not as successful. Initially, the men dropped out of the favorites, and then the women did as well, although Anastasia Kolpakova and Kamilya Giniyatova may compete for a place in the final, and in the relay, also for medals. However, in the 200 meters butterfly, Kolpakova is among the favorites, as is Almetyevets Eduard Valiakhmetov in the individual medley. Interestingly, the situation is better in long distances. In the 400 meters freestyle, the brilliant Sofia Dyakova is among the favorites, plus Kolpakova and Anastasia Chernysheva. In the 400 meters individual medley, we can count on Yaroslav Sokolovsky, Karina Akinova, and the same Chernysheva. Finally, in the 800 meters, Margarita Vazykhova will contend for a place in the final.

      Dyakova's participation only in the 400 meters may be explained by the fact that she has already met the standard required to qualify for the European Championship plus the European Junior Championship. The selection was based on the results of the April Cup of Russia in St. Petersburg. All the leaders have already made it to the national team: Kliment Kolesnikov, Yegor Kornev, and Kirill Prigoda, Darya Klepikova and Evgenia Chikunova — a total of 20 swimmers. The same Andrey Minakov will have a dual task with his start — winning medals and qualifying for the European Championship, although his coach Alexey Kuznetsov noted that his training process is focused on the World Championship in short course in December 2026. Breaststroke with Evgenia Chikunova and Yulia Efimova is traditionally the strongest style among Russian female swimmers. Real Time / realnoevremya.ru

      Farewell swim for foreigners

      On Saturday, June 6, at 16:20, after the ceremonial opening of the Russian swimming championship, there will be a farewell swim for two-time Olympic champion Evgeny Rylov. It is noteworthy that he first made a name for himself in Kazan, only in the open pool during the 2015 World Championship, becoming a bronze medalist. All other competitors have already finished, with American Ryan Murphy being the last to leave the pool, having swum to the Olympic Paris in 2024, when Rylov's daughter was born. His compatriot Tyler Clary managed to switch from swimming to motorsport. Rylov, on the other hand, is finishing just before his 30th birthday.

      Among the participants of the upcoming Russian championship will be more than a dozen Serbs and one Belarusian. Speaking of athletes from Serbia, particular attention should be paid to Luka Chavich, who is called a rising star of world swimming. Luka, who turned 16 on April 22, broke Phelps' records among juniors under 16 in both the 200 and 400 meters freestyle. Swimming enthusiasts may recall that the Serbs already had a swimmer with a similar surname — the famous Milorad Chavich, who became the vice-champion of the Olympics in Beijing, where he lost to the aforementioned Phelps, and before that became the European champion, setting a continental record in the non-Olympic distance of 50 meters butterfly. After which he came to the award ceremony wearing a shirt that read "Kosovo is Serbia."

      In this case, the Chaviches are namesakes, both born in California. The currently competing Luka studies in high school in Pleasanton, California, representing the Serbian club "Vracar" from Belgrade. Nevertheless, even record results at the junior level do not place him among the favorites of the Russian championship, while his compatriot and competitor in the 200 meters freestyle Nikola Simich may qualify for the final in the 1500 meters.

      By the way, at the Cup of Russia, outside of competition, swimmers from Belarus (Daniil Buchenkov, grandson of Soviet swimmer Elvira Vasilkova, Grigory Pekarsky, Ilya Shimanovich), Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan started.

      Backstroke is the crown event of the men's team.

      Dinar Fatykhov / realnoevremya.ru

      "Let's win together"

      Everything is known in comparison, and the swimmers from three countries at the Cup of Russia, and from two countries at the national championship — this is a tiny number compared to what could be. Moreover, we will only see one swimmer from Belarus — Roman Khanevsky, whose participation may be driven by personal motives. For comparison: among the participants of the X All-Russian tournament of the Special Olympics in swimming "Let's win together" for athletes with Down syndrome, which took place last weekend at the Kazan pool "Burevestnik," representatives from the same Belarus and Kazakhstan participated. Medals and certificates were awarded by our swimming legends Mikhail Vekovishchev, Sergey Fesikov, Anton Chupkov, and the same Rylov. Among the participants was Bozhena Garazha from Rostov-on-Don, an example of media promotion and personal involvement in active life, inspiring many children suffering from Down syndrome.

      At the very competitions, which were attended by a correspondent from "Real Time," there were a large number of participants, including from the most distant regions of the country, such as the Far East, which helped to form quite a few relay teams. It's simple: there are few starts, people are ready to travel from the "ends of the earth," in other words, "they are not spoiled," which is sometimes encountered in professional sports. It is no coincidence that the rector of the Volga University of Sports Rafis Burganov said that "today we have so many worthy athletes that they are still choosing: will I participate or not...," referring to participation in the competitions.

      The start in Kazan — the finish in Paris.

      Artem Dergunov / realnoevremya.ru

      Dualism of Russian sports

      Now swimmers will be troubled by the question of reaching peak form or maintaining it. Starting in Kazan on June 6, they will need to maintain their condition until the beginning of August to perform as successfully as possible at the European Championship in Paris. The FIFA World Cup logically shifted two complex starts — the European Championships for swimmers and athletes — to the end of summer. And in our specific case, this will ease the path to medals for conditional Noah Ponte from Switzerland, Romanian David Popovici, or Diogo Ribeiro from Portugal, who have no competition at home and can calmly prepare for the main starts.

      Russian "water athletes" are at the forefront in terms of returning to international competitions along with wrestlers (the bronze of Kazan representative Svetlana Lipatova at the 2026 European Championship in Tirana), which is not surprising, as the leadership of the local federations has been in close cooperation with ours. It is rather pleasantly surprising that the return to the international arena has occurred for rowers and weightlifters (5th place for Chulninetz Zulфат Гараев at the 2026 European Championship in Batumi), as they were the first to fall under the guillotine of exclusion from international competitions since the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. On the other hand, another start on the international stage for our taekwondo athletes in Munich, Germany, took place without us — Germany did not grant entry visas. Although last year, Russians participated in both the European Championship in Serbia and the World Championship in China. World sports are confidently entering a zone of turbulence, where there are no guarantees for athletes from our country to participate in international competitions.

      Dinar Fatykhov / realnoevremya.ru

      For example, there are no movements regarding the return of football players, who have already missed two World Cups and are close to missing the second European Championship in 2028, the draw for which will take place in December. Russian teams are absent in the qualifications for the 2027 European Championships in basketball, volleyball, handball, as they will serve as qualifiers for the 2028 World Championships.

      The dualism of perception of what is happening is related to the fact that Belarusian Olympians have returned to international competitions while Russians continue to be excluded. The question of quotas for starts will arise with the potential return of figure skaters, and in hockey, there may arise a humiliating situation where the teams of Russia and Belarus will have to start again from tournaments in the third division with Hong Kong, Mongolia, and the Philippines.

      Completing the topic of coordinating the activities of the new federation of water sports, it is worth noting the venues for the national championships. Last year, diving and synchronized swimming took place in Yekaterinburg, as does this year's championship in synchronized swimming. Diving has moved to Kazan, where the long-distance swimming championship has been held continuously since 201