Evgeny Rylov, who won gold in the 100m and 200m metres backstroke events at last year's Tokyo Olympics, was last week banned for nine months after attending a rally hosted by Russian president Vladimir Putin in March
Monday 25 April 2022 21:20, UK
FINA has launched an internal review after Russian swimmer Evgeny Rylov competed at the national championships while serving a ban for attending a rally in support of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Rylov, who won gold in the 100m and 200m metres backstroke events at last year's Tokyo Olympics, was among several athletes who attended a massive rally at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow last month hosted by president Vladimir Putin.
Swimming's world governing body suspended Rylov for nine months for attending the rally last week. Russian and Belarusian athletes are also banned from competing at the federation's events for the remainder of 2022.
"FINA is aware that Mr Rylov competed in the Russian Championships this weekend and has launched an internal review to ascertain whether FINA sanctions or rules have been broken," a statement from the organisation read.
"The outcome of this review will be announced in due course."
Rylov and other athletes wore the letter 'Z' on their outfit, an identifying symbol used by supporters of what Russia calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine. Belarus is a key staging area for the invasion.
The 25-year-old finished third in the 100m backstroke earlier on Monday at the national championships, which began on Sunday in Kazan and runs until Friday.
FINA said last week that Rylov's ban applies to all competitions and activities organized or sanctioned by FINA. The review of Rylov's case is likely to consider whether the national championships fall into that category.
Russian Swimming Federation president Vladimir Salnikov, who has claimed Rylov's ban was motivated by political bias, told state broadcaster Match TV on Saturday that the national championships did not count as a FINA event.
