(From Left) Vinod Kumar Operations Manager Nettakallappa Aquatic Centre (NAC), Lead Coach NAC Sharath Chandra, Head- NAC Varun Nijhawan, General Manager KN Guruswamy Trust Anil Nair, Lead Coach Ankush Kanbarkar, Senior Supervisor NAC Jijeesh Jayan during the press conference announcing Nettakallappa Swimming Competition 2025 at Press Club of Bangalore on Tuesday.
Credit: DH Photo/Pushkar V
Bengaluru: The fourth edition of the Nettakallappa Swimming Competition, the year-end bash with some the best Indian talent in fray, will be staged on November 8 and 9 at the Nettakallappa Aquatic Centre (NAC) here.
And similar to the previous edition, India’s youngest Olympian at the 2024 Paris Games -- Dhinidhi Desinghu and two-time Olympian Srihari Nataraj -- are expected to set the pool on fire. Several other international, national record-holders will be eager to challenge the duo who make up the 300-plus competitors to have a go at the two-day event.
The competition, known for introducing the SKINS format (for 50m events in freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly) in the country since its first edition in 2022, has a cumulative purse of more than Rs 10 lakh as cash prize in the men’s and women’s categories. This time, two swimmers - one male and a female - who finish with the maximum points will be adjudged the ‘most valuable swimmer’ that carries a reward of Rs 25,000 each.
While the winners in the conventional races (100m, 400m - all in time trial format), will be awarded Rs 8,000 (gold), Rs 6,000 (silver) and Rs 4,000 (bronze), all the eight swimmers in the SKINS finals will receive cash incentives according to their final positions with the topper taking home Rs 10,000.
Apart from the SKINS and time trial formats for seniors (18 and above), Group I (15-17) and Group II (13-14) age categories, the event will also stage races for the Group III (11-12) girls and boys for the first time.
Former national coach and Dronacharya awardee Pradeep Kumar will be the chief guest during the opening ceremony on Nov 8 at 4:30 pm.