Srihari Nataraj wins gold, team Karnataka bag 74th Senior National Aquatic Championships title

Srihari Nataraj and Sajan Prakash registered new national records in their respective categories on the final day of the 74th Senior National Aquatic Championships.

Team Karnataka clinched the 74th Senior National Aquatic Championships title. With 17 gold, 10 silver and nine bronze medals to their name, the Karnataka squad finished on top of the charts. This is Karnataka’s 30th overall championship title at the Senior Nationals event.

Srihari Nataraj swept the gold medal with a new record timing of 1:49.78 seconds in the In 200m freestyle event. Srihari also went on to win gold in the 200m backstroke with a time of 2:04.20 seconds.

He bettered Sajan Prakash’s previously held record of 1:50.35 seconds, clocking in at 2018.

Kushagra Rawat finished second with a time of 1:52.24 seconds. Meanwhile, Tanish George Mathew of Karnataka bagged bronze with a time of 1:52.34 seconds in the 200m freestyle event.

Srihari was ecstatic after winning two gold medals at the 74th Senior National Aquatic Championships. Srihari improved his performance to beat Kushagra Rawat, a three-time gold medallist with three national records to his name at the event.

“This was one race I was looking forward to because Kushagra was swimming too and he has been in good form. I’ve worked quite hard for my freestyle events more than backstroke actually and it feels good to have won the race and also bettered the national record,” stated Srihari.

Maharashtra finished second with a total of 21 medals while Delhi finished third with a total of nine medals to attain third place on the podium.

Meanwhile, two-time Olympian Sajan Prakash, representing Kerala Police, bagged a gold medal with a timing of 53.24 seconds in the 100m butterfly event. He bettered his own record of 53.46 seconds. Mihir Ambre of Maharashtra finished second with a time of 54.93 seconds and Adhithya D of TNSA finished third, clocking 55.72 seconds.

Apart from Srihari, Maana Patel also took part in the aquatic championship but unfortunately could not make it to the podium. Maana finished fourth in the 200m backstroke event with a timing of 2:28.96 seconds.

Ridhima clocked 2:21.58 seconds to finish first while Soubriti Mondal of Bengal clocked 2:24.85 seconds. Shrungi Rajesh Bandekar of Goa clocked 2:28.27 seconds to finish on the podium.

Srihari Nataraj and two others qualify for the FINA World Short Course Championships

The Swimming Federation of India announced the Indian contingent for the upcoming 15th FINA World Short Course Championships in Abu Dhabi on Friday.

Srihari Nataraj, Sajan Prakash and Kushagra qualify for the FINA World Short Course Championships. This came after they put up an outstanding show at the 74th Senior National Aquatic Championships.