Favourites kept their date with records on the fourth day of the swimming competitions of the National Games at the Mihir Sen Plaza here on Wednesday.
Sajan Prakash’s gold hunt continued while Sandeep Sejwal, Richa Mishra and A.V. Jayaveena set new records on the day that saw six new marks being rewritten. In diving, Hruthika Shriram won the 3m spring board with a new games record.
Sajan Prakash was again the standout performer as he set a new meet record in 200m butterfly. Sajan was up against Supriya Mondal of Bengal who had shattered the 18-year-old record of Suresh Kumar in the heats, and Aaron D’Souza of Madhya Pradesh.
Aaron led at the start but Supriya wrested the lead after 100m with Sajan lying in third place. However, Sajan overtook Aaron midway through the third lap and at the turn he nosed ahead of Supriya who was a little slow.
Once Sajan took the lead, there was little Supriya could do to stop the Kerala boy who went on to win comfortably.
Sajan clocked 2:00.69 which bettered Supriya’s timing of 2:04.85 set during the heats.
Both Supriya and third placed Aaron D’Souza came under the old record which was set in the morning. This is Sajan’s fourth gold medal of the meet.
Richa Mishra of Madhya Pradesh set her second record of the meet as she came back from behind to win the 200m butterfly in which she was the defending champion and current record-holder.
Richa trailed Damini K. Gowda of Karnataka in the first half of the race. But Richa took the lead midway through the third lap and powered her way to the gold. Richa clocked 2:21.66 to improve her own record (2:23.95) set in 2002. Damini, who finished second, also came under the old record.
Unstoppable Sandeep Sejwal warmed up for the 50m breaststroke final by improving his own meet record in the heats. In the final, the Madhya Pradesh swimmer was simply unstoppable as he capitalised on a good start and powered his way to his second record of the meet. Sandeep clocked 0:27.98s for the gold which erased his own record (0:28.90s) set in the heats. Puneet Rana (Haryana) and Jashandeep Singh of Punjab finished second and third respectively.
Tamil Nadu’s A.V. Jayaveena lived up to her reputation as she comfortably won the 50m breaststroke with a new games record. Jayaveena had broken Poorva Shetye’s games record (0:35.74) in the heats by clocking 0:34.84s and in the final, the Tamil Nadu girl was a clear winner in 0:34.43s.
Maharashatra won the men’s and women’s 4x200 freestyle relays with new meet records. Maharashtra men clocked 7:44.24 to finish ahead of Kerala and Gujarat. The old record (8:01.77) stood in the name of Karnataka which was set in 2011.
Maharashtra women clocked 8:54.73s to erase Karnataka’s old mark (9:06.68) set in 2011. Karnataka and Kerala finished second and third respectively.
The results:
Diving: 3m spring board: Women: 1. Hruthika Shriram (Mah) (214.50 pts - NGR; OR - 205.35- Hruthika Shriram, Maharashtra, 2011), 2. Simran Rajani (Mah) (210.15), 3. Tanuka Dhara (Ben) (172.45).
Swimming: Men: 200m butterfly: 1. Sajan Prakash (Ker) (2:00.69-NGR; OR-2:04.85 Supriya Mondal, Bengal, 2015), 2. Supriya Mondal (Ben) (2:00.80), 3. Aaron D’Souza (MP) (2:03.69).
50m breaststroke: 1. Sandeep Sejwal (MP) (0:27.98-NGR; OR-0:28.90, Sandeep Sejwal, 2015), 2. Puneet Rana (Har) (0:29.29), 3. Jashandeep Singh (Pun) (0:29.40).
4X200m freestyle relay: 1. Maharashtra (7:44.24 -NGR; OR-8:01.77, Karnataka, 2011), 2. Kerala (7:48.02), 3. Gujarat (7:54.48).
Women: 200m butterfly: 1. Richa Mishra (MP) (2:21.66-NGR; OR-2:23.95, Richa Mishra, AP, 2002), 2. Damini Gowda (Kar) (2:22.35), 3. Sherlyn Meghna Devadason (TN) (2:25.73).
50m breaststroke: 1. A.V. Jayaveena (TN) (0:34.43-NGR; OR-0:34.84, A.V. Jayaveena, TN, 2015), 2. Monique Gandhi (Mah) (0:35.80), 3. Poorva Shetye (Mah) (0:35.93).
4x200m freestyle relay: 1. Maharashtra (8:54.73-NGR; OR-9:04.68, Karnataka, 2011), 2. Karnataka (9:00.52), 3. Kerala (9:09.76).
