One day after officially being granted French citizenship, 22-year-old Russian native Anastasia Kirpichnikova missed qualifying for France’s open water squad headed to this year’s World Championships by just .22 seconds in the women’s 10km race on Saturday in Martinique. The top two finishers, Lisa Pou and Oceane Cassignol, automatically earned trips to Worlds in Fukuoka this summer.
La deuxième place avec 22 petits centièmes d’avance pour Océane Cassignol devant la néo-Tricolore, Anastasiia Kirpitchnikova, 3e. Rendez-vous demain pour des 5 km qui s’annoncent hauts en couleurs ! #Natation @FFNatation https://t.co/Bmhv1w8S1W
— Louis Delvinquière (@Louis76Delvinq) April 22, 2023
The French Swimming Federation (FFN) is confident that Kirpichnikova will be eligible to swim for France at Worlds since they initiated the process for her new sporting nationality before World Aquatics (formerly FINA) approved a rule last month requiring a three-year waiting period between changes.
Kirpichnikova has been training in France for the past years under coach Philippe Lucas, who has worked with Olympic medalists such as Sharon von Rouwendaal, Marc-Antoine Olivier, and Laure Manaudou. Lucas She hasn’t raced in the pool outside of France since the 2021 Short Course World Championships, where she won silver in the 800 free.
“There are still a few small steps with World Aquatics but the whole process is underway and it will be fluid until the world championships,” FFN technical director Julien Issoulié said. “We are lucky to have the support of the Russian Federation, since we warned them more than a year ago that they wanted to change. They wrote to us again recently to confirm this support so it will be put in place. All the documents will be ready for the World Championships.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February has rendered Kirpichnikova unable to compete internationally for over a year. The International Olympic Committee seems to be leaning toward allowing Russians and Belarusians to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympics as neutrals with no national flag or anthem, but swimmers from both countries are set to miss this summer’s World Championships for the second year in a row.
The first Russian woman to participate in pool and open water swimming at the Olympics, Kirpichnikova could make a huge impact in both disciplines for France. In Tokyo, she placed 7th in the 1500 free, 8th in the 800 free, and 14th in the 400 free while also finishing 15th in the 10km open water race.
She would be France’s fastest woman so far this year in the 400 free (4:08.50), 800 free (8:27.98), and 1500 free (16:07.45). The same was true in 2022, and in 2021 she would have been the fastest French woman in the 800 and 1500 freestyles. She remains the current Russian record holder in both the 800 and 1500 free in long course meters and short course meters.
Kirpichnikova appears to be the first Russian swimmer to successfully switch sporting citizenships since the war in Ukraine, but she’s not the only one trying. Mark Nikolaev, a 26-year-old backstroke specialist who’s the eighth-fastest ever in the 50 back, is reportedly applying for Australian sporting nationality.
A former NCAA swimmer at Grand Canyon University, Nikolaev placed 2nd in both the 50 back (25.43) and 100 back (54.76) at the Australian National Championships last week. Both events are weak points for Australian men right now, especially as it relates to an otherwise-strong medley relay, so Nikolaev could be put to good use in a hurry if he can attain Russian eligibility.
