Veteran Sludnov leads the way at Russian swim nationals

Veteran three-time world champion Roman Sludnov lead the way at the Russian national swimming championships here on Tuesday by finishing first in the men's 50m breaststroke on Tuesday. The 32-year-old, winner of a bronze in the 100m breaststroke at the 2000 Syndey Olympics, clocking 27.80sec to finish ahead of Kirill Strelnikov (28.01) and Anton Lobanov (28.10). In the championships which also double as Olympic qualifiers, Yegor Degtyarev booked his ticket to the London Games by winning the men's 400m freestyle. Degtyarev clocked 3:48.94 to finish 1.86sec ahead of Yevgeny Kulikokv with Alexander Selin third in 3:51.58. Yelena Sokolova won the women's 400m freestyle to seal her Olympic berth in 4:12.29. However Beijing Olympics 4x200m freestyle silver medallist Nikita Lobintsev surprisingly failed to qualify for London over his preferred distance. Yana Martynova of Russia's republic of Tatarstan won the women's 400m medley with a time of 4:38.69. Martynova qualified for London along with second-placed Daria Belyakina, who clocked 4:45.24.