Courtesy: Swimming Federation of India
The ageless wonder Richa Mishra created history by becoming the first Indian female swimmer to break the 5 minute barrier in the 400 IM for women clocking a time of 04:59.17. She broke her own nine year old national record of 05:02.86 set at Trivandrum. Sayani Ghosh of Bengal came a distant second with a time of 05:20.59 while B Shakthi of Tamil Nadu edged past Firdoush Khayamkhani of Rajasthan to win bronze with a time of 05:21.64.
The 200 m Breaststroke also saw history being made as Saloni Dalal of Karnataka clocked the best time by an Indian female swimmer. Saloni swam a wonderful back half to beat the challenge posed by Kareena Shankta of SFI to win gold at 02:41.88. Kareena won silver with a time of 02:44.85 while Harshita Jayaram of Karnataka swimming in the outside lane won bronze with a time of 02:46.35.
Wonder boy Shrihari Nataraj of Karnataka broke his own record twice once in the heats and then in the finals. He also recorded a best performance by an Indian in the 50m backstroke winning gold with a new national record with a time of 00:26.18. Srihari dominated the race from the start establishing his credentials as one of India’s best backstroke swimmers. Madhu P S of Services won the silver with a time of 00:26.69 while Vedant Seth of Haryana won bronze with a time of 00:27.37.
The relay quartet of team SFI not only clinched a double gold but also created a best Indian performance in the 4 X100 m medley relay after winning the 4 X 100 m freestyle relay yesterday. Team SFI represented by Yuga Birnale , Kareena Shankta, Trisha Kharkhanis and Kenisha Gupta won gold with a time of 04:29.81 creating a National record. Team Karnataka won silver with a time of 04:33.92 while team Railways won bronze with a time of 04:34.47.
Advait Page of Madhya Pradesh who clocked the best ever time for an Indian swimmer in Singapore in June warded off a strong threat from SFI’s Aryan Makhija to win the gruelling 1500 m Freestyle event with a time of 15:42.67 setting a new national record in the process. Aryan Makhija also achieved a better meet record with a time of 15:43.06 while Delhi and SAI GAF swimmer Khushagra Rawat continued his fine form to win bronze with a time of 15:57.87.
Sandeep Sejwal showcased his superiority in the breast stroke events leading from start to finish to win the 200 m breaststroke for men with a time of 02:15.76. S Danush from Tamil Nadu swam a wonderful race to finish second with a time of 02:19.32 while S Arun of Services won bronze clocking 02:20.39
Manna Patel from Gujarat who trains at GAF Mumbai lived up to her top billing by leading all the way to win the 50 m backstroke for women with a time of 00:30.11. Suvana C Bhaskar of Karnataka won silver with a time of 00:30.87 while Nivya Raja on Tamil Nadu claimed bronze clocking 00:31.50
The race to determine the fastest swimmer of the meet the 50 m freestyle had a star-studded field with both experienced campaigners and juniors gunning for the top honors. Reigning Champion Virdhawal Khade of SFI showed his class to retain the title clocking a time 00:22.80. Aaron Dsouza of Railways sneaked past young Neel Roy of SFI to win silver with a time of 00:23.52 while Neel clocked 00:23.55 to claim bronze.
The last race of the day saw team Karnataka thwart an extremely spirited challenge from team Services in the last leg of the 4 X 100 m medley relay. Team Karnataka represented by Srihari Nataraj, Likhith S P , Avinash Mani and Rahul M won gold with a time of 03:51.04 while team Services beat early leaders team Delhi to win silver with a time of 03:51.75 while Delhi had to settle for bronze with a time of 03:51.85.