Courtesy: Swimming Federation of India
The Race For The Best Female Swimmer In The 72nd Glenmark Senior National Aquatic Championship Heated Up Between The Ageless Wonder Richa Mishra Representing Police And Youngster Saloni Dalal For The Best Swimmer As Both The Swimmers Had Commendable Performances On Day 4.
Saloni Dalal Representing Karnataka Once Again Showcased Her Amazing Ability To Shoot Ahead In The Final Part Of The Race. She Did In In The 50 M And 200 M Breaststroke And Repeated The Same In The 100 M Breaststroke Where The Leader For 85% Of The Race Kareenashankta Of SFI Was Pipped To The Post By Saloni. Saloni Not Only Won Gold But Also Established The Best Time By An Indian And A National Record Clocking 01:14.87. Young Kareenashankta Won Another Silver With A Time Of 01:15.24 While Madhya Pradesh’s Annie Jain Won Bronze With A Time Of 01:17.75.
Arguably The Swimmer Of This Generation Virdhawal Khade Who Missed Athe Bronze Medal In The 2018 Asian Games By The Narrowest Of Margins Signed Off The Meet In Style By Creating A New National Record In The 50 M Butterfly His Last Individual Event Of This Meet With A Time Of 00:24.26 Breaking His Own Record Set In 2009 Coincidentally At Trivandrum. Supriya Mondal Representing Railways Fought With Virdhawal Stroke For Stroke Won Silver With A Time Of 00:24.86 While His Teammate Sarma SP Nair Won Bronze With A Time Of 00:25.19.
It Is Not Often That One Race In A Meet Is Eerily Similar To Another One. This Was The Case In The 800 M Freestyle Which Was A Replica Of The 1500 M Finals With The Wonderful Richa Mishra Of Police Winning Gold With A Time Of 09:14.22. The Second And Third Place Was Exactly Similar To The 1500m Where A Late Spurt By Tamil Nadu’s Bhavikadugar Helped Her Win Silver With A Time Of 09:22.57 While Khushi Dinesh Of Karnataka Was Unlucky Once Again To Pick Up Bronze With A Time Of 09:22.62.
The 400 M Individual Medley Not Only Tests The All Round Swimming Ability Of The Swimmer But Also His Endurance. Advait Page Of Madhya Pradesh Held On To A Lead Gained During The Backstroke Leg To Win The Race Comprehensively With A Time Of 04:30.92 Narrowly Missing The Meet Mark. Emil Robin Singh Of Tamil Nadu Swum An Excellent Breaststroke Leg To Get Close To Advait Page But Could Not Match Advait’s Brilliance In The Freestyle Leg And Won Silver With A Time Of 04:37.14 While Early Leader Sanu Debnath Of Railways Won Bronze With A Time 04:39.71.
Asian Games Bronze Medalist Sandeep Sejwal Of Delhi Lived Up To His Billing As The Top Seed To Win The Gold With A Time Of 01:02.60. Likhith S P Of Karnataka Gave A Strong Challenge To Sandeep And Won Silver With A Time Of 01:03.09 While Puneet Rana Of Police Won His Second Bronze Of The Meet With A Time Of 01:04.14.
The 50 M Butterfly Race For Women Saw An Absolutely Scintillating Race Wherein Anybody Could Have Won The Event. Reigning Champion And National Record Holder Divyasatija Of Haryana Pulled Ahead To Claim Gold With A Time Of 00:28.72 Narrowly Missing The National Record. The Fastest Female Swimmer Of The Meet Kenisha Gupta Of SFI Claimed Silver With A Time Of 00:28.94 While 15-Year-Old Liyana Fathima Umer Brought Cheer To Hosts Kerala As She Pulled Out A Surprise By Beating Experienced Swimmers To Win Bronze With A Time Of 00:29.00.
Kenisha Gupta Reaffirmed Her Status As A Top-Class Exponent Of Sprints As She Beat An Array Of Stars To Win The Gold In The 100 M Freestyle After Her Gold In The 50 M Freestyle Yesterday And Silver In The 50m Butterfly Today. Kenisha Swam A Fantastic Second Half To Not Only Pip Early Leader And Bronze Medalist Aditi Dhumatkar Of Railways But Also The Reigning Champion Shivani Kataria Of Haryana Who Claimed Silver. The Final Times Were 00:58.75 For Kenisha 00:58.77 For Shivani And 00:59.13 For Aditi.
The 100 M Freestyle Saw The Coronation Of A New Prince As 16 Year Old Neel Roy Representing SFI Continued The Tradition Of Maharashtra Producing Champions In This Event. The Throne Abdicated By Virdhawalkhade Was Successfully Claimed By Neel With A Time Of 00:51.45 Beating Golden Boy Srihari Nataraj Of Karnataka Who Claimed Silver With A Time Of 00:51.64 While Anshul Kothari Of Gujarat Won Bronze With A Time Of 00:52.22.
Team Karnataka Represented By Avinash Mani, Sanjay C J, Rahul M And Srihari Nataraj Comfortably Won The 4 X 200 M Freestyle Relay With A Time Of 07:48.05. Showing Their Depth Of Talent Karnataka Beat The Challenge Of Team SFI Who Won Silver Courtesy A Fantastic Anchor Leg By Aryaanmakhija With A Time Of 07:51.29 While Team Railways Claimed Bronze With A Time Of 07:52.75.