NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh Olympic champion Dmitriy Balandin won silver Dec. 9, finishing a 200-metre distance in 2 minutes, 09 seconds 71 hundredths at the men’s breaststroke final of 2019 U.S. Open Swimming Championship in Atlanta, reported olympic.kz.
Photo credit: olympic.kz.
Cody Miller was .04 seconds ahead of Balandin. Andrew Wilson closed the top three finishing the 200 breaststroke in 2:10.10.
Miller’s win caused a number of lead changes in the 200 breast. He swam a very even race at 29.3 / 33.3 / 33.3 / 33.6.
Balandin moved from 7th to 4th to 5th to 2nd, and Wilson went from 4th to 5th to 4th to 3rd. Kevin Cordes held the lead over the first half of the race with 28.30 and 1:02.46 at the 50 and 100 walls, reported swimswam.com.
This is Balandin’s second medal after he won gold at the 100 breaststroke of the championship. He won gold Dec. 4 finishing a 100-metre distance in 59.36 seconds.
Wilson won the silver of the 100 breaststroke race, finishing in 59.54, while Miller took the bronze in 59.92.
Adilbek Mussin also took part to represent Kazakhstan at the tournament.
Balandin, 24, won gold at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, where he became Kazakhstan’s first ever Olympic swimming medallist in the 200-metre breaststroke. This was also his best time in the 200 breaststroke, 2:07.46.
Balandin updated Kazakhstan’s records in both the 100 and 200-metre breaststrokes at the 2014 Asian Games, going three-for-three. Balandin earned the Speedo Performance of the Week at the Asian Games for his performance in the 200-metre breaststroke.
The Kazakh breaststroke swimmer skipped the men’s 200 breaststroke at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta while recovering from injury. Yet he competed in 50 and 100.
“He had a recent injury and a recent recovery so his coach decided not to risk his health in the 200,” Balandin’s spokesman told Reuters.
