Mani Arvind sinks 400m IM mark

Mani Arvind swimming to a new mark in the 400m IM on Friday. Photo: Mohammed Yousuf

Mani Arvind of Karnataka won his second gold of the meet by scripting a new National record, clocking a time of 04:41.60 in the Group I boys 400m individual medley, in the junior National aquatics championship here on Friday.

The 18-year-old Arvind erased State-mate Rehan Poncha’s time of 04:42.57 set in the 2003 Nationals.

“This gold is all the more sweet for I beat the record of Rehan with whom I trained regularly and who even gave me lot of tips to be a better swimmer,” said a visibly delighted Arvind.

“It was tough this evening but I am happy with the end-result,” says the young swimmer who till now has 24 medals in different Nationals since 2006.

In a close contest, V.K.R. Meenakshi of Tamil Nadu clinched gold in the girls Group I 100m butterfly event pipping Rujuta Bhatt of Maharashtra as the jury was forced to opt for the photo-finish.

The TN girl clocked 01:06.59 while Rujuta with 01:06.64 had to be content with the second place.

The results (all finals):

Girls: Group I: 1500m freestyle: 1. Aakanksha Vora (Mah) 17:57.89, 2. Shruthi Mahalingam (TN), 3. Kavya Gopalakrishnan (TN). 100m butterfly: 1. V.K.R. Meenakshi (TN) 1:06.59, 2. Rujuta Bhatt (Mah), 3. Mugdha Malla Reddy (TN).

4x200mfreestyle relay: 1. Maharashtra 09:21.54, 2. Karnataka, 3. Tamil Nadu.

Group II:800m freestyle: 1. P. M. Abishiktha (TN) 09:45.55, 2. Shraddha Sudhir (Kar), 3. Aishwarya Selvakumar (TN). 100m butterfly: 1. Damini K. Gowda (Kar) 1:07.27, 2. Yuga Birnale (Mah), 3. Trisha Karkhanis (Mah). 4x200m freestyle relay: 1. Karnataka 09:26.92, 2. Tamil Nadu, 3. Maharashtra.

Boys: Group I: 400m IM: 1. M. Arvind (Kar) 04:41.60, 2. T. Sethu Manickavel (TN), 3. Jason Smith (Mah). 100m freestyle: 1. Neil Contractor (Guj) 54.63, 2. Rakshith U. Shetty (Kar), 3. P. Larsen (TN). 4x200m freestyle relay: 1. Karnataka 08:13.55, 2. TN, 3. Maharashtra.

Group II: 100m freestyle: 1. Spandan Pratik Rath (Kar) 59.09, 2. Saumya Vora (Mah), 3. M. Harish Raj (TN). 400m IM: 1. Ishaan Jaffer (Mah) 05:05.43, 2. V.B. Hemanth Jenukal (Kar), 3. Aryan Makhija (Mah). 4x200m freestyle relay: 1. Karnataka 08:43.29, 2. Maharashtra, 3. TN.