Roman Mityukov qualifies confidently for the semi-finals in the 200 m backstroke at the World Championships in Singapore. He swam the third-best time of the preliminary heats.
31.07.2025, 05:53
31.07.2025, 06:44
SDA
Mityukov started the race quickly. His time after 100 m was 56.03 seconds, which was 33 hundredths faster than his Swiss record of 1:54.85 minutes, with which he won Olympic bronze in Paris last year. The final time was 1:56.15 minutes. "I felt good. It went exactly how I wanted it to," the Geneva native, who turned 25 the day before, told Keystone-SDA.
Mityukov's feelings had been different after his failure in the preliminary heat of the 100 m backstroke on Monday. However, he had already been eliminated in the first round of this event at the Olympic Games in Paris. So he knew that he could still be good in his showpiece discipline. "Since Fukuoka 2023, I've been training more for the 200 m and neglecting the 100 m a bit," explained Mityukov. "I don't work much on my speed."
He certainly seems to be ready for the semi-final in the afternoon Swiss time. "It's almost the most important race," said Mityukov, who has already won bronze (2023) and silver (2024) in the 200 m backstroke at world championships.
Lisa Mamié from Zurich had to withdraw from the 200 m breaststroke due to illness.
