Kirill Belyaev swam second at the European Championships at a distance of 25 kilometers

Russian swimmer Kirill Belyaev won a silver medal in open water swimming over a distance of 25 kilometers at the European Summer Sports Championships in Glasgow.

Our athlete lost only one second to the winner, Hungarian Christophe Rashowski, who covered the distance in 4 hours 57 minutes 53.5 seconds. The top three finishers were rounded out by Italian Matteo Furlan (+2.2 seconds).

It should be noted that the competition participants competed in insulated wetsuits in accordance with the rules on water temperature.

“It was a little difficult to swim in the suit, because it still compresses the shoulders, but we were all on equal terms. This is my first swim at a distance of 25 km. I was hoping to be in the top 6, but I ended up becoming a medalist , and I’m incredibly happy about this medal,” Belyaev told RIA Novosti .

At qualifying competitions in Russia, athletes were selected for the European Championships at a distance of 16 km.

On Sunday at the European Championships, Russians Evgeny Dratsev and Anton Evsikova took sixth and seventh places, respectively.

Belyaev's silver is the only award for the Russian open water swimming team. In total, seven sets of medals were competed at the European Championships. The Netherlands team won the medal count - four golds, silver and bronze. The Hungarian team was second - two golds and a silver, the Italians were third (1-1-2).