Despite returning from the Junior Worlds in Hungary just a week ago, Srihari Nataraj walked away with four individual golds, three meet records and the best male swimmer award at the 73rd Glenmark National senior aquatic championships at the Prakash Tarun Pushkar pool here on Wednesday.
The 18-year-old from Bengaluru had eight golds in all, including four in the relay, and topped the final day with a meet record in the 100m backstroke, an event where he looks to qualify for next year’s Tokyo Olympics.
But another big star, Olympian Sajan Prakash, was a very disappointed man though he won three individual events in the five-day meet, including two in the butterfly.
Disappointed
“I’m really upset and disappointed with my performance here, I feel burned out, I feel exhausted,” said Sajan, a very talented swimmer who has probably been competing in too many events in the last few weeks.
“Today’s event, the 200m fly, was crucial because I’m trying to qualify for the Olympics (’A’ standard) in this. Unfortunately, I did three seconds off my best time, it is totally a negative sign. So, I need to rest and start training again because last month, I did not train at all.”
Meanwhile, Mumbai’s promising 16-year-old Kenisha Gupta broke the women’s 100m freestyle meet record of Harayana’s Shivani Kataria while Karnataka’s S.P. Likith completed his set of three breaststroke golds while winning the 100m on the final day.
“Last year, I did not get any gold so it’s a huge improvement for me this time. And timing-wise I’ve improved by one full second in the 100 breast and in the other events too,” said Likith who had trained in Austria under a JSW scheme earlier.
New coach
“I have a new coach now in Partha Varanashi, he was in Australia for six years and is very passionate about swimming, he brought about a big change in me. He was willing to provide whatever I needed, he is more of a friend than a coach.”
Karnataka, as expected won the overall championship and men’s team title while Maharashtra took the women’s team trophy. Haryana’s Shivani Kataria was adjudged as the best woman swimmer.
The results (finals):
Men: 200m freestyle: 1. Kushagra Rawat (Del) 1:53.44s, 2. A.S. Anand (Ser) 1:54.97, 3. Aaron Fernandes (Mah) 1:55.71.
100m backstroke: 1. Srihari Nataraj (Kar) 55.63 (MR, OR: 56.53), 2. P.S. Madhu (Ser) 58.30, 3. Rakshith U. Shetty (Kar) 58.89.
200m butterfly: 1. Sajan Prakash (Pol) 2:00.13, 2. Supriya Mondal (Rly) 2:03.41, 3. Tanish George Mathew (Kar) 2:04.23.
100m breaststroke: 1. S.P. Likith (Kar) 1:02.69, 2. S. Danush (TN) 1:04.18, 3. M. Lohith (Rly) 1:05.08.
Women: 100m freestyle: 1. Kenisha Gupta (Mah) 58.26 (MR, OR 58.51), 2. Shivani Kataria (Har) 59.21, 3. Sadhvi Dhuri (Mah) 1:00.06.
800m freestyle: 1. Richa Mishra (Pol) 9:22.50, 2. Khushi Dinesh (Kar) 9:24.81, 3. Bhavya Sachdeva (Del) 9:31.41.
100m backstroke: 1. Ridhima Veerandra Kumar (Kar) 1:07.19, 2. Suvana C. Baskar (Kar) 1:07.22, 3. Soubrity Mondal (Ben) 1:07.41.
100m breaststroke: 1. Kareena Shankta (Mah) 1:14.97, 2. Saloni Dalal (Kar) 1:15.89, 3. Chahat Arora (Pun) 1:16.36.
200m butterfly: 1. Apeksha Fernandes (Mah) 2:23.17, 2. Anvesha Girish (Kar) 2:25.43, 3. B. Shakthi (TN) 2:25.78.
Championships:
Overall: Karnataka (268 pts). Men: Karnataka (138).
Women: Maharashtra (129).
Diving (team):Men: Services (30 pts). Women: Railway (27).
Waterpolo (finals): Men: Services 9 (Aneesh Kumar 4) bt Railway 5.
Third place: Kerala. Women: Maharashtra 8 bt Bengal 4.
Third place: Kerala .
