Fedulova gets Olympic berth after freestyle win

Svetlana Fedulova of Saint Petersburg took gold in the women's 50-metre freestyle on the third day at the Russian swimming championships here Thursday.

With a time of 25.32sec Fedulova won the right to perform for Russia at the 2012 Olympics in London.

Veronika Popova was second (25.77), with Natalia Lovtsova in third (25.83).

In the championships, which also double as Olympic qualifiers, Danila Izotov of Krasnodar region also received a pass to the Olympics, winning the men's 200m freestyle in 1:46.56.

The race also opened the way to London for second-placed Yevgeny Lagunov (1:47.47) along with third-placed Artem Lobuzov (1:47.53) and Nikita Lobintsev, who came fourth obtaining a place in Russia's 4x200m relay team.

in the men's 200m breaststroke, Vyacheslav Sinkevich won gold in 2:11.04, sendingt him on his way to the 2012 Games along with second-placed Anton Lobanov (2:12.35).

Marat Amaltdonov was third (2:12.38) Yulia Efimova won the women's 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:07.05, earning her an Olympic pass along with the silver medalist Daria Deyeva 1:07.22. Anastasia Chaun finished with bronze (1:08.74).

In the women's 200m backstroke Anastasia Zueva came first with a time of 2:06.59 beating Maria Gromova (2:11.11) and Yulia Larina (2:12.97).

Nikita Konovalov won gold in the non-Olympic men's 50m butterfly clocking a time of 23.32sec ahead of Yevgeny Korotyshkin (23.95) and Roman Kaigorodtsev (24.20).

Meanwhile, Yelena Sokolova won the women's 800-metre freestyle earning a place in Russia's Olympic team with a time of 8:36.44. Yelizaveta Gorshkova was second (8:44.48), while Yekaterina Seliverstova came third (8:49.78). AFP