On the inaugural day of the sub-junior and junior national aquatic championships, Karnataka’s Sambhavv R achieved a remarkable feat by surpassing the established record of renowned Indian swimmer Srihari Nataraj in the 200m freestyle event. Sambhavv clocked an impressive time of 1:53.41 seconds, eclipsing Nataraj’s three-year-old record of 1:53.54 seconds in the same category for group I boys. Aneesh S Gowda from Karnataka secured the second position with a time of 1:53.54 seconds, while Maharashtra’s Vedaant Madhavan claimed the bronze with a time of 1:55.93 seconds.
One of the highlights of the day was the closely contested 200m individual medley for group I boys, featuring Bengal’s Swadesh Mondal and Shoan Ganguly from Karnataka. Shoan initially led after the first 50m, showcasing his strength in the butterfly leg. However, Mondal caught up during the backstroke leg and surged ahead in the breaststroke segment. Despite Shoan’s impressive effort in the freestyle leg, Mondal secured the first position with a time of 2:08.88, while Shoan settled for silver with a time of 2:09.05. Both swimmers clocked times well within the national record of 2:10.26 set in 2018 by Neel Roy of Maharashtra.
In the 200m freestyle for group III girls, Karnataka’s Dhinidhi Desinghu made history by breaking an 11-year-old national record set in 2010 by Monique Gandhi of Maharashtra. Dhinidhi clinched the gold with a time of 2:14.94 seconds, leaving Aditi Hegde of Maharashtra with the silver (2:23.93) and Shakthi Ishwar Prasad of Tamil Nadu with the bronze (2:24.77).