BAC power to overall crown

Shubha, Sneha share 100M freestyle gold in exciting finish on final day

The Basavanagudi Aquatic Centre swimmers Shubha and Sneha clocked one minute 00.64 seconds to bag the gold medals at the Vijayanagar Swim Centre pool. Arhatha Magavi of KCR took bronze in 1:03.86.

Shubha was off to a good start and seemingly on a cruise mode when Sneha quickly reduced the gap to touch-first in the 50-metre mark. After the turn, Shubha regained the lead before Sneha managed to narrow the gap. From then on the race witnessed a stirring battle before both swimmers touched the wall at the same time. With the referee’s manual timings being identical, Shubha and Sneha were adjudged joint winners.

BAC emerged overall champions after garnering a whooping 609 points.
Aditya Roshan of KCR and Pooja Alva of BAC bagged the best swimmer awards in the men’s and women’s categories respectively.

Aditya won the 50, 100 and 200 breastroke titles. The 18-year-old also bettered the meet mark in the 200 backstroke. Pooja took home 100 and 200 butterfly, 200 and 400 individual medley crowns in the three-day meet.

Gagan AP timed 4:09.91 in the 400 freestyle to pocket his fifth gold.

The BAC swimmer won 200, 800 and 1500 freestyle and 200 individual medley on the first two days of the championship. Gagan, who had already qualified for the CWG in the 1500M freestyle, said, “It was a good warm-up for the Senior Nationals. I hope to do 15:30.00 in the 1500 free at the Commonwealth Games so that I can finish among top five.”

Results:  Men: 100M freestyle: Ashwin Menon (KCR) 54.39, 1; Ajay A (BAC) 56.97, 2; Shaun D' Souza (BAC) 57.21, 3. 400M freestyle: Gagan AP (BAC) 4:09.91, 1; Ajay A (BAC) 4:26.09, 2; Vikas (MEG) 4:44.09, 3. 50M backstroke: Sandeep NA (BAC) 28.40, 1; Ashwin Menon (KCR) 28.40, 2; Pranam B (BAC) 30.46, 3. 200M butterfly: Srinand Srinivas (BAC) 2:19.06, 1; Sumukh SV (BAC) 2:25.05, 2; Abbul Hasan (MEG) 2:41.15, 3. 4x100M medley relay: BAC ‘A’ (Sandeep N A, Gagan A P, Srinand Srinivas, Ajay A) 4:23.61, 1; BAC ‘B’ (Pranam B, Arvind, Sumukh, Shaun D’Souza) 4:27.89, 2; MEG (4:28.91) 3.

Women: 100M freestyle: Shubha C (BAC) 1:00.64, and Sneha T (BAC) 1:00.64, 1; Arhatha Magavi (KCR) 1:03.86, 3.    400M freestyle: Sushaka Pratap (BAC) 4:52.41, 1; Pratima Kollali (KCR) 4:55.36, 2; Sreelakshmi Gorur (KCR) 5:10.03, 3. 50M backstroke: Fariha Zaman (BAC) 32.23, 1; Damini K Gowda (BAC) 35.51, 2; Meghana Srivatsa    (BAC) 36.35, 3. 200M butterfly: Pooja R Alva (BAC) 2:26.67, 1; Arhatha Magavi (KCR) 2:29.27, 2; Simran DN (BAC) 2:39.67, 3. 4x100M medley relay: BAC ‘A’ (Meghana S, Harini, Sushaka Pratap, Malavika V) 5:06.47, 1; BAC ‘B’ (Damini K Gowda, Lavanya G, Aishwarya B, Fariha Zaman) 5:07.23, 3.

Overall championship: BAC (609 points). Best swimmer: Men: Aditya Roshan (KCR, 78 points).  Women: Pooja Alva (BAC, 32).

Waterpolo: Men: MEG bt ASC 6-0; BAC bt SJIHS 6-0.  Standings: MEG, 1; BAC, 2.
Diving: Highboard: H England Singh (MEG) 232.80, 1; J Kumar (DAC) 221.40, 2; Soroj Kumar (ASC) 176.40, 3. Best diver: Men: H England Singh (MEG, 21). Women: Nammi Divya Theja (JIRS, 14).