Kirill Strelnikov (born 29 May 1992) is a Russian competitive swimmer. He won a gold medal in the 4×50 metre medley relay at the 2021 World Short Course Championships and the 4×100 metre medley relay at the 2013 World University Games, swimming the breaststroke leg of both relays in the final. At the 2021 European Short Course Championships he won a bronze medal in the 4×50 metre mixed medley relay, swimming the breaststroke leg of the relay in the preliminaries.
Background Strelnikov was born on 29 May 1992 in Volgograd, Russia and started competitive swimming in 1999."Kirill Strelnikov: Info". Eurosport. Retrieved 26 February 2022."Kirill Strelnikov: Profile". FINA. Retrieved 26 February 2022. To complement his in-the-pool regimen, he has worked at the Laboratory of Sports Adaptology, in Moscow, as a specialist.
Career 2012–2013: International debut 2012 European Aquatics Championships At the 2012 European Aquatics Championships in Debrecen, Hungary in May, Strelnikov placed fifth in the final of the 100 metre breaststroke with a time of 1:01.12, finishing 0.19 seconds behind the bronze medalist in the event Mattia Pesce of Italy.LEN (22 May 2012). "31st LEN European Swimming Championships Debrecen (HUN): Men's 100m Breaststroke Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 26 February 2022. In the semifinals of the 50 metre breaststroke three days later, he placed 14th with a time of 28.25 seconds.LEN (25 May 2012). "31st LEN European Swimming Championships Debrecen (HUN): Men's 50m Breaststroke Semifinals Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 26 February 2022. Two days later, he split a 1:00.17 in the final of the 4×100 metre medley relay to place fifth with finals relay teammates Vitaly Borisov (backstroke), Nikita Konovalov (butterfly), and Vitaly Syrnikov (freestyle).LEN (27 May 2012). "31st LEN European Swimming Championships Debrecen (HUN): Men's 4x100m Medley Relay Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
2013 World University Games
On the second day of the 2013 World University Games, held at the Palace of Water Sports in Kazan in mid-July, Strelnikov placed fourth in the final of the 100 metre breaststroke, finishing with a time of 1:00.48 that was 0.12 seconds slower than the bronze medalist Edoardo Giorgetti of Italy.Tissot (17 July 2013). "27th Summer Universiade in Kazan 2013: Results Book". FISU. Retrieved 26 February 2022. Five days later, he won a gold medal as part of the 4×100 metre medley relay, swimming a 1:00.06 for the breaststroke leg of the relay to contribute to the winning time of 3:34.27 with finals relay teammates Vladimir Morozov (backstroke), Evgenii Koptelov (butterfly), and Andrey Grechin (freestyle).Grace, Jeff (16 July 2013). "6 WUGS Records Fall In 8 Races On Final Night Of Universiade". SwimSwam. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
2013 World Aquatics Championships
For his first event of the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Spain in late July, Strelnikov swam a personal best time of 59.80 seconds in the preliminary heats of the 100 metre breaststroke, advancing to the semifinals ranking second behind Christian Sprenger of Australia.FINA (28 July 2013). "15th FINA World Championships Barcelona (ESP): Men's 100m Breaststroke Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 26 February 2022. In the semifinals later in the day, he ranked ninth with a time of 59.94 seconds, which was just 0.02 seconds behind the slowest qualifier for the final and eighth-ranked swimmer, Kosuke Kitajima of Japan.FINA (28 July 2013). "15th FINA World Championships Barcelona (ESP): Men's 100m Breaststroke Semifinals Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 26 February 2022. Two days later, he qualified for the semifinals of the 50 metre breaststroke ranking fifth with a 27.36 in the prelims heats.FINA (30 July 2013). "15th FINA World Championships Barcelona (ESP): Men's 50m Breaststroke Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 26 February 2022. He posted a time of 27.75 seconds in the semifinals, ranking 13th and not advancing to the final of the event.FINA (30 July 2013). "15th FINA World Championships Barcelona (ESP): Men's 50m Breaststroke Semifinals Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 26 February 2022. On the final day of competition five days later, Strelnikov split a 59.84 for the breaststroke leg of the 4×100 metre medley relay in the prelims heats, helping qualify the relay to the final tied in rank for second with prelims relay teammates Vladimir Morozov (backstroke), Nikolay Skvortsov (butterfly), and Nikita Lobintsev (freestyle).FINA (4 August 2013). "15th FINA World Championships Barcelona (ESP): Men's 4x100m Medley Relay Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 26 February 2022. For the final, Yevgeny Korotyshkin substituted in for Nikolay Skvortsov, Andrey Grechin substituted in for Nikita Lobintsev, Strelnikov split a 59.24 for the 100 metre breaststroke portion, and the relay placed fourth in a time of 3:32.74.FINA (4 August 2013). "15th FINA World Championships Barcelona (ESP): Men's 4x100m Medley Relay Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
2013 Swimming World Cup
At the 2013 Swimming World Cup stop in Moscow, and conducted in short course metres, Strelnikov swam a 27.62 in the prelims heats of the 50 metre breaststroke, qualifying for the final ranking eighth.FINA (12 October 2013). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2013 Moscow: Men's 50m Breaststroke Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 26 February 2022. In the evening final, he won the bronze medal with a time of 27.20 seconds, finishing 1.37 seconds behind gold medalist in the event Roland Schoeman of South Africa.FINA (13 October 2013). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2013 Moscow: Men's 50m Breaststroke Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 26 February 2022. The following day, he placed 20th in the prelims heats of the 100 metre breaststroke with a 1:01.35 and did not advance to the final.FINA (13 October 2013). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2013 Moscow: Men's 100m Breaststroke Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
2021: Return after 8 year hiatus from international championships In the 50 metre breaststroke at the 2021 Russia National Championships in April, also serving as the Russian Olympic Trials for the 2020 Summer Olympics, Strelnikov won the gold medal with a personal best time of 26.78 seconds, however he did not qualify to compete at the Olympic Games as the event was not offered as part of the Olympic program for the year.Sutherland, James (5 April 2021). "2021 Russian Olympic Trials: Day 3 Finals Live Recap". SwimSwam. Retrieved 26 February 2022. The time of 26.78 seconds ranked him as the fourth-fastest performer in the event for the entire 2021 year, 0.57 seconds behind first-ranked Adam Peaty of Great Britain, 0.39 seconds behind second-ranked Nicolò Martinenghi of Italy, 0.32 behind third-ranked Ilya Shymanovich of Belarus, and 0.02 seconds ahead of fifth-ranked Arno Kamminga of the Netherlands."World Rankings 2021: Men 50 Breaststroke Long Course Metres" . FINA. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
2021 International Swimming League For the 2021 International Swimming League regular season, conducted in short course metres in August and September, Strelnikov was a part of the roster for Team Iron.Dornan, Ben (26 August 2021). "ISL Depth Charts: Iron's Success Hinges On Returning Stars And Key Newcomers". SwimSwam. Retrieved 26 February 2022. In the seventh match of the regular season, he took second-place in the 50 metre breaststroke with a time of 26.31 seconds, finishing 0.17 seconds behind first-place finisher Nic Fink of the Cali Condors.ISL (16 September 2021). "ISL Match 7: Men's 50m Breaststroke Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 26 February 2022. On the second day of the match, he placed fifth in the 100 metre breaststroke with a 58.40.ISL (17 September 2021). "ISL Match 7: Men's 100m Breaststroke Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 26 February 2022. In the eleventh match, he tied Alessandro Pinzuti of Tokyo Frog Kings with a 26.20 in the 50 metre breaststroke for second-place, both finished 0.19 seconds behind Yasuhiro Koseki of the Tokyo Frog Kings.ISL (29 September 2021). "ISL Match 11: Men's 50m Breaststroke Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
2021 Swimming World Cup
At the Kazan stop of the 2021 Swimming World Cup in October, Strelnikov started competition on day one with a ninth-place finish in the 100 metre breaststroke, swimming a 58.43 in the preliminary heats.FINA (28 October 2021). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2021 Kazan (RUS): Men's 100m Breaststroke Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 26 February 2022. For his second and final event he competed in the 50 metre breaststroke, ranking fifth in the prelims heats with a 26.37 and qualifying for the final later in the day.FINA (29 October 2021). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2021 Kazan (RUS): Men's 50m Breaststroke Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 26 February 2022. In the final he won the bronze medal with a time of 26.12 seconds, finishing within three-tenths of a second of gold medalist Fabian Schwingenschlögl of Germany and silver medalist Arno Kamminga of the Netherlands.FINA (29 October 2021). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2021 Kazan (RUS): Men's 50m Breaststroke Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 26 February 2022.Sutherland, James (29 October 2021). "2021 FINA World Cup – Kazan: Day 2 Finals Live Recap". SwimSwam. Retrieved 26 February 2022.Binner, Andrew (29 October 2021). "Kyle Chalmers breaks 100m freestyle world record at FINA Swimming World Cup in Kazan". Olympics.com. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
2021 European Short Course Championships
On the second day of the 2021 European Short Course Championships in Kazan in November, Strelnikov swam a time of 57.68 seconds, ranked eleventh overall, third amongst the Russian swimmers in the event, and did not qualify for the final as he was not one of the two fastest swimmers representing Russia.LEN (3 November 2021). "2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships Kazan (RUS): Results 100m Breaststroke Men Preliminary". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 26 February 2022. For his other individual event, the 50 metre breaststroke, he placed fifth in the final on the sixth and final day of competition with a personal best time of 26.03 seconds.LEN (7 November 2021). "2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships Kazan (RUS): Results 50m Breaststroke Men Final". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 26 February 2022. Also on the final day of competition, he split a 25.83 for the breaststroke leg of the 4×50 metre mixed medley relay in the prelims heats, helping qualify the relay to the final ranking first.LEN (7 November 2021). "2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships Kazan (RUS): Results 4x50m Medley Mixed Preliminary". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 26 February 2022. On the finals relay, Oleg Kostin substituted in for him and the relay finished third in 1:36.42 with all relay members, prelims and finals, meaning a bronze medal for their efforts.LEN (7 November 2021). "2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships Kazan (RUS): Results 4x50m Medley Mixed Final". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
2021 World Short Course Championships