The Hindu : Sport / Swimming : Indian bid sinks at Sydney

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Sunday, Mar 30, 2008
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Indian bid sinks at Sydney

BANGALORE: The Indian swimmers’ bid to qualify for the Olympics ended on a dismal note at the Telstra Australian championship at Sydney on Friday, with Shikha Tandon failing to make the cut in the 50m freestyle heats. She clocked 26.87 seconds, well below her National best of 26.50s. The Olympic ‘B’ qualifying time is 26.32 seconds.

In the week-long meet, barring Shikha, who bettered her own National record in the 100m freestyle, the rest of the Indian swimmers performed well below their best.

Personal best

In the 200m backstroke, Rehan Poncha managed a personal best of 2:03.37.

He did 4:34.29s in the 400m individual medley and clocked 2:10.29s in the 200m individual medley, besides finishing with 1:00.83s in the 100m backstroke. Sandeep Sejwal also struggled, with times of 2:21.40s in the 200m breast stroke and 1:05.49s in the 100m breaststroke. In the 200m freestyle, Rohit Hawaldar clocked 1:59.95s and Mandar Divase, also made a below par effort of 2:03.61s.

Virdhawal Khade, the only Indian so far to qualify for the Olympics (in 200m freestyle), did not participate owing to a foot injury. Khade, however, has recovered and resumed his training.

The Indian swimmers have one more shot at the Olympic qualifying marks when they head for the Malaysian Open meet scheduled from May 1.

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