Maharashtra reclaimed the title of overall champion in grand fashion at the Glenmark 33rd Sub-Junior National aquatic meet here on Saturday, dethroning Karnataka in its own home.
A close battle for top honours had been predicted, with one gold medal separating the two States at the end of the penultimate day’s action at the Basavanagudi Aquatic Centre. On the final evening, however, Maharashtra swimmers turned in a splendid performance, winning five of the ten scheduled races to regain the title they had lost in Pune last summer to end a 12-year streak.
Vedika Amin, who has established two individual records here already, swam a decisive anchor leg in the day’s last race to help Maharashtra break the Group 3 girls’ 4x50 medley relay record.
It was one of two records to fall in the finals, the other arriving courtesy Assam's boys in the Group 3 4x50m medley relay. It capped off a fine effort from the north-eastern State, which was awarded the Group 3 boys’ team championship.
In the eagerly awaited 100m freestyle events, Maharashtra’s Ronak Sawant edged Karnataka’s Amey B. Patil in a thrilling finish in the Group 4 boys' race. It was the only individual gold won by Maharashtra's boys at the meet.
In the morning heats, Manipur’s Mahananda Thockchom rewrote the Group 4 boys' 50m breaststroke record. Thockchom clocked 37.8s to obliterate Shoan Ganguly's mark of 39.73 from last year.
The results: Swimming: Boys: Group III: 100m freestyle: 1. Hiren Shagolsem (Man) 59.21s, 2. Rajdeep Gogoi (Asm) 1:00.59, 3. Kapil Shetty (Kar) 1:01.73; 50m backstroke: 1. Kapil Shetty (Kar) 32.51, 2. Aaron J. Thomas (Ker) 33.30, 3. Jeet Banerjee (WB) 33.33. 4x50m medley relay: 1. Assam 2:05.96 ( NMR ; Old: 2:08.56, Kar, 2014), 2. Karnataka 2:06.74, 3. Bengal 2:11.10.
Group IV: 100m freestyle: 1. Ronak Sawant (Mah) 1:08.20, 2. Amey B. Patil (Kar) 1:08.38, 3. Vidith S. Shankar (Kar) 1:11.44; 50m breaststroke: 1. Mahananda Thokchom (Man) 39.47, 2. Rehan Mirza (Asm) 39.69, 3. Ansu Kar (WB) 40.53.
Girls: Group III: 100m freestyle: 1. Akanksha Shah (Mah) 1:05.25s, 2. Seeya Bijlani (Mah) 1:05.75, 3. D.S. Srenethi (TN) 1:06.19; 50m backstroke: 1. Palak Dhami (Mah) 34.66, 2. Nina Venkatesh (Kar) 34.82, 3. Aeka Chatra (Mah) 35.02.
4x50m medley relay: 1. Maharashtra 2:14.86, ( NMR ; Old: 2:17.20, Kar, 2014), 2. Karnataka 2:18.59, 3. Tamil Nadu 2:23.03.
Group IV: 100m freestyle: 1. Anaya Punamiya (Mah) 1:11.88, 2. Nitya Khinvasara (Mah) 1:12.72, 3. Jahnabi Kashyap (Asm) 1:12.83; 50m breaststroke: 1. Shriya Ishwar Prasad (TN) 42.45, 2. Samriddha Datta (Mah) 43.10, 3. Lavleen Das (Asm) 43.54.
Diving (winners only): Boys: Group I: 3m spring board: Surajt Rajbanshi (Services) 491.60; Group III: 1m spring board: Om Awasthi (Mah) 238.80.
Girls: Group I: 3m spring board: Simran Rajani (Mah) 291.65; 1m spring board: Esha Waghmode (Mah) 144.75.
Individual awards: Best swimmer: Boys: Group III: Swadesh Mondal (WB), Group IV: Vidith S. Shankar (Kar); Girls: Group III: Vedika Amin (Mah), Group IV: Nitya Khinvasara (Mah).
Team Championship: Overall: Maharashtra (258 points); Swimming: Boys: Group III: Assam (82), Group IV: Karnataka (71); Girls: Group III: Maharashtra (121), Group IV: Maharashtra (80).
