The third stage of the short-course swimming World Cup in a 25-metre pool has ended in Astana, the final leg of the Silk Road Tour series. Many decorated athletes, including Olympic and world champions, came to the Kazakh capital, but the national team finished without medals — though several Kazakh swimmers reached finals and broke national records, infohub.kz reports.
Gleb Kovalenya posted the best result for the national team, finishing fifth in the 50-metre freestyle. He set a Kazakh record in the heats and improved it in the final with a time of 21.22 seconds.
Galymzhan Balabek stood out in two events, setting national records in the 400- and 800-metre freestyle with times of 3 minutes 46.87 seconds and 7 minutes 59.22 seconds respectively.
Aibat Myrzamuratov clocked the fastest time in the country's history in the 50-metre breaststroke at 26.50 seconds. Sofya Spodarenko broke the Kazakh record in the same-distance butterfly, swimming it in 25.97 seconds.