On March 2, the Ukrainian National Aquathlon Championships took place in Khmelnytskyi, alongside the second stage of the Children’s Triathlon League. This year’s edition saw the strongest amateur field yet, with an unprecedented live broadcast of the race!

In 2023, podium contenders clocked 14:30 for 1 km swim and 19:00–21:30 for 5 km run in the women’s race, while the men’s field saw 14:00 swim splits and 17:00–20:00 run splits. But this year, with a National Championship on the line, expectations were sky-high!

Pre-Race Fan Poll Favorites:
Men: The community backed Yevhen Mikhieiev (Chameleon) as the “People’s Champion.” Strong fan support! Other contenders included Pavlo Perebyinis (Chameleon), Anton Lytvynenko (CapitalTRI), and Vitalii Volynets, the only athlete in the top poll not representing a club.
Women: The poll predicted Yana Vasyanovych (KIT Triathlon Team) as the race leader, followed by Tania Korol (CapitalTRI) and Anastasiia Derevliova (KIT Triathlon Team).

The Swim Leg
The first showdown took place in the pool, where four athletes broke the 14-minute mark:
Pavlo Perebyinis (Chameleon)
Anton Hutsalo (RAES Team)
Anton Lytvynenko (CapitalTRI)
Pavlo Kalinichenko (Trienergy)

Among the women, Yana Vasyanovych and Anastasiia Derevliova dominated, coming close to last year’s 14:30 benchmark.
Strong podium contenders: Tania Korol, Olga Korets (Lutsk Triathlon Federation), and Anna Hutsalo (RAES Team), who all completed the swim under 16 minutes.
The men’s 15-minute swimmers stayed within podium contention, including Serhii Chernyshov, Mykyta Grybanov, Dmytro Ivanov, Volodymyr Sorokobatko, and one of the top running favorites – Vitalii Volynets.

The Run Leg
Volynets turned on the jets, catching the leaders and posting one of the fastest run splits – 17:00 flat (3:24/km average pace)! Lytvynenko trailed by just 29 seconds, holding off Volynets by 14 seconds at the finish.
1.Anton Lytvynenko – Ukrainian Aquathlon Champion!
2.Vitalii Volynets – Silver medalist!
2.Anton Hutsalo – Bronze medalist! – minimizing time loss on the run to secure a podium finish.

Chernyshov missed the podium by just 47 seconds, finishing 4th. Defending podium finisher Pavlo Perebyinis came in 5th.

Men’s Top 10 Overall
6. Pavlo Kalinichenko
7. Oleksandr Lyatsevych (Lutsk Triathlon Federation) – fastest runner outside the top 3
8. Mykyta Grybanov (KIT Triathlon Team)
9. Andrii Churanov (SiS Ukraine Multisport) – the only runner besides Volynets to break 17 minutes
10. Taras Tretiak (Lutsk Triathlon Federation)

Fan-favorite Yevhen Mikhieiev finished 16th in the overall standings.

Women’s Race: Unstoppable Vasyanovych!
Yana Vasyanovych left no chance for her competitors, dominating both swim and run!
Pace: 1:27.5 per 100m swim, 3:37/km run
Time improvement: She shaved nearly a full minute off her 2023 run split!

2. Anastasiia Derevliova defended her silver medal under heavy pressure from Tania Korol, who missed silver by just 4 seconds!

Women’s Top 10 Overall
4. Olga Korets (Lutsk Triathlon Federation)
5. Anna Hutsalo (RAES Team)
6. Iryna Krotova (SiS Ukraine Multisport)
7. Yuliia Azzopardi Mazur (Sapik Team)
8. Iryna Bilenka (KIT Triathlon Team)
9. Tania Hromova (Podilski Vovky)
10. Nataliia Dushkevych (Podilski Vovky)

Full race results available at link