Today was the last day of the qualifying stage of the Russian Swimming Cup in Penza. Our athletes did the best and brought new record!

The 3^rd day was completed with the following results:

Men, 50m Freestyle:
Abeku Gyekye Jackson (Ghana) 23.79
Isihaka Irankunda (Rwanda) 26.49
Eloi Maniraguha (Rwanda) 26.85
Saddam Ramziyorzoda (Tajikistan) 28.69
Fahim Anwari (Afghanistan) 28.88

Women, 50m Freestyle:
Bisma Khan (Pakistan) - 28.30

Men, 200m Individual Medley:
Luis Emigdio Vega Torres (Cuba) - 2: 13.08

Women, 200m Individual Medley:
Habibat Ogunbanwo (Nigeria) - 2: 34.32

Men, 400m Freestyle:
Franci Aleksi (Albania) - 4: 09.35
Ado Gargović (Montenegro) - 4: 38.11

Men, 50m Butterfly:
Abeku Gyekye Jackson (Ghana) - 24.18
Salvador Vieira Gordo (Angola) - 26.02
Isihaka Irankunda (Rwanda) 27.55
Eloi Maniraguha (Rwanda) 28.61
Saddam Ramziyorzoda (Tajikistan) 29.77
Fahim Anwari (Afghanistan) 30.07

Women, 50m Butterfly:
Lorena Gonzalez (Cuba) - 28.65
Bisma Khan (Pakistan) - 29.82

Salvador Vieira Gordo (Angola) – 26.02 - set a new personal best time on 50m Butterfly;

Ado Gargović (Montenegro) – 1.57.69 - set the new national record of Montenegro on the 200m freestyle;

«After I finish my 200m race I knew I could do it better because I started to fast...so Pavel and I decided to go again 200m fast at 400m race, and I've broken national record which makes me really happy», – commented Ado from Montenegro.

Needless to say, that for many our swimmers the competition in Penza was the first competition after pandemic. We asked our swimmers about their feelings after the previous qualifying stage:

«Because of the pandemic situation, I have not participated in competitions for a long time. I am very happy for this competition, which took place in Penza. I swam in this competition in four distances and showed good results. I firstly, I want to say thank you, Fina Development Centre Kazan, for such a good conditions for swimmers and all the opportunities for all of us. I am trying to get a license for the Olympics and represent my Tajik homeland» - said Saddam Ramziyorzoda from Tajikistan.

«The race felt good, being finally able to race again. It was good to set some times, and set a good foundation. Looking forward to getting back to work in training in hopes of improving on these times! Glad to have been able to break a national record. Looking forward to reducing that mark even further» - said Habibat Ogunbanwo.

«I am very happy that I participated in this championship in Penza, and I was very excited about the results, but in any case, it was a very good experience», - said Luis Vega Torres.

Pavel Kutashev - swimming coach is very satisfied with the results. He believes, our guys are able to achieve their goals and best time, as they do maximum every day, and Pavel sees the progress.

«The qualifying stage of the Russian Swimming Cup was completed. Today was a very busy day. Ado Gargovic has set the country's national record for the 200m freestyle in the 400m swim. He showed the result 1.57.69. Abeku Gyekye Jackson in the 50m Butterfly was very close to his best result and showed 24.18. Summing up, I can say that our team showed good results. Someone showed their best seconds, someone was close to their best time. But no one showed a "bad" result. For many of them, this was the first experience of competition in Russia and they were able to adapt only at the last day. For them, this is a very valuable experience before qualifying competition for the Russian Olympics, which will be held in Kazan», - commented Pavel Kutashev.

To sum up, the competition went very well for our team! 4 records: Salvador Vieira Gordo set the new national record of Angola both Junior&Open; Bisma Khan set the new national record of Pakistan; Ado Gargovich set the new national record of Montenegro, Habibat Ogunbanwo set the new national record of Nigeria. Our sincere congratulations to the guys! There are new important competitions ahead, we will prepare hard to improve our time and bring new victories!