Dual Olympic Champ Evgeny Rylov Misses 100 Back Final At Russian Nats, Clocks 54.96 For 14th

2025 RUSSIAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

28-year-old four-time Olympic medalist Evgeny Rylov has shockingly missed the men’s 100 backstroke final on the first day of the 2025 Russian Swimming Championships, which serves as the qualifying meet for the World Championships in Singapore this July.

With events 100 and shorter running through heats, semifinals, and finals, Rylov posted a time of 54.96 in the semifinals, finishing 14th and failing to make the top eight.

Rylov split 26.67 and 28.29, never truly putting himself into contention. Although Rylov is primarily known as a 200 backstroker, he has always had strong opening speed in the 100. When at his best, he has consistently taken the race out in 25 seconds flat.

Men’s 100m Backstroke Semifinals, Top 16:

1. Miron Lifintsev – 52.74
2. Pavel Samusenko – 52.86
3. Kliment Kolesnikov – 52.91
4. Dmitry Savenko – 53.67
5. Nikolay Zuev – 53.71
6. Mikhail Shcherbakov – 54.01
7. Georgy Yakovlev – 54.21
8. Alexey Tkachev – 54.35
9. Maksim Fofanov – 54.55
10. Artem Norkin – 54.61
11. Yaroslav Yadryshnikov – 54.79
12. Georgy Smirnov – 54.90
13. Lev Mazhura – 54.93
14. Evgeny Rylov – 54.96*
15. Kirill Kuznetsov – 55.23
16. Sergey Strakhov – 55.53

Although the Russian and Belarusian federations remain officially suspended due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian sporting organizations, Russian athletes will still be permitted to compete under a neutral flag at the World Championships in Singapore—just as they did at the Short Course Worlds in December—provided they meet the established guidelines for athlete participation during times of conflict.

Rylov is one of the few swimmers who would likely not meet the guidelines for participation, due to his involvement in pro-war rallies. He is still slated to swim the 50 and 200 back events later this week.

The backstroke ace is one of just three male swimmers to have won three consecutive Olympic or World Championship titles in the same event. Since earning bronze in the 200 back at the 2016 Rio Olympics, he has remained undefeated in it at major competitions, claiming gold in Budapest (2017), Gwangju (2019), and Tokyo (2021).

In 2020, Rylov not only broke the European Record with a 1:53.23 earlier in the year but also captured Olympic gold in the 200 back with a time of 1:53.27, winning by nearly nine-tenths of a second. That victory ended the U.S.’s streak of six consecutive Olympic titles in the event. Rylov’s triumph came on the heels of his gold medal in the 100 back, where he narrowly edged out countryman Kliment Kolesnikov by 0.02 seconds, clocking a 51.98. This win also broke the U.S.’s six-gold streak in the 100 back, with Ryan Murphy—2016 champion in both backstroke events—settling for bronze in the 100m and silver in the 200m.

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