The talented Avinash Mani expectedly hogged the limelight, while Khushi Dinesh and Vaishnav Hegde produced impressive performances on the opening day of the swimming competitions at the State Olympic Games here on Tuesday.
At the Corporation swimming pool, Avinash, a trainee of Basavanagudi Aquatic Centre (BAC), powered to gold in the men’s 800M freestyle in 9:19.05. His team-mates Om Kumar TH took the silver in 9:32.51, while Litheesh G Gowda had to settle for a bronze medal in 9:52.98.
Later, Avinash added another gold medal to his tally, triumphing in 200M freestyle. He clocked 2:02.85 for the to spot. BAC’s Prithvi M took the silver in 2:05.69, while Dolphin Aquatics Gaurav Yadav KA won the bronze in 2:06.32.
In the men’s 100M breaststroke, Puttur Aquatic Centre’s Vaishnav clocked 1:10.70 to clinch the yellow metal in what was a tight race. It was a two-way contest between the Puttur lad and BAC’s Prithvi M with the duo swimming neck-and-neck for the first 50 metres.
The 18-year-old Vaishnav then went ahead and maintained a slender lead over Prithvi till the end to emerge winner. Prithvi, who put up a tough fight, bagged silver in a time of 1:11.72. Nishanth S of BAC took the bronze in 1:13.76.
“It was a close race. I was swimming four seconds slower than my best. I am glad I managed to pull it off,” said Vaishnav, who had clinched a gold and a bronze in the South Asian Swimming Championship in Colombo last year.
Also bagging a double in the men’s section was Hemanth Jenukal VB. The Global Swim Centre swimmer finished first in 200M backstroke, clocking 2:20.17, while touching the pad in 4:56.54 to win the 400M individual medley.
In the women’s 800M freestyle, BAC’s Khushi produced a clinical effort to win the gold in 9:53.88. It was a clean sweep by the swimmers from BAC, as their trainees Nikitha SV (10:04.64) and Preksha HM (10:07.13) bagged the silver and bronze respectively.
The 13-year-old, who enjoyed good success at the South Asian meet with five gold and a silver, began confidently and after the 400-metre mark, raced ahead of her team-mates to take a comfortable lead. There was no looking back for there as Khushi built on the lead to emerge victorious.
Khushi completed the day’s proceedings by winning the 200M freestyle gold in 2:1718. Another BAC trainee Mayuri Lingaraj took the silver in 2:17.53, while Sneha T completed the podium by touching the pad in 2:18.84.
DH News Service
Results: Swimming: Men: 200M freestyle: Avinash Mani (BAC) 2:02.85, 1; Prithvi M (BAC) 2:05.69, 2; Gavrav Yadav KA (DA) 2:06.32, 3.
800M freestyle: Avinash Mani (BAC) 9:19.05, 1; Om Kumar TH (BAC) 9:32.51, 2; Litheesh G Gowda (BAC) 9:52.98, 3. 100M breastroke: Vaishnav Hegde (Puttur Aquatic Centre) 1:10.70, 1; Prithvi HM (BAC) 1:11.72, 2; Nishanth S (BAC) 1:13.76, 3.
200M backstroke: Hemanth Jenukal VB (GSC) 2:20.17, 1; Nishant Kumar (GSC) 2:23.14, 2; Saurabh Vemekar (BAC) 2:26.19, 3.
400M individual medley: Hemanth Jenukal VB (GSC) 4:56.54, 1; Prithvi M (BAC) 5:08.41, 2; Om Kumar TH (BAC) 5:09.51, 3.
4x100M freestyle relay: BAC ‘B’ (3:59.20), 1; BAC ‘A’ (4:11.26), 2; NAC ‘A’ (Nettakallappa Aquatic Centre) 4:32.02, 3.
4x200M freestyle relay: BAC ‘A’ (8:10.67), 1; BAC ‘B’ (9:19.67), 2; Swim Life (13:49.85), 3.
Women: 200M freestyle: Khushi Dinesh (BAC) 2:17.18, 1; Mayuri Lingaraj (BAC) 2:17.53, 2; Sneha T (BAC) 2:18.84, 3.
800M freestyle: Khushi Dinesh (BAC) 9:53.88, 1; Nikitha SV (BAC) 10:04.64, 2; Preksha HM (BAC) 10:07.13, 3.
200M backstroke: Shriya R Bhat (BAC) 2:44.34, 1; Simran Deepak Mungekar (BAC) 2:47.89, 2; Saachi G (BAC) 2:48.85, 3.
100M breakstroke: Harshitha Jayaram (GSC) 1:21.56, 1; Shriya R Bhat (BAC) 1:23.08, 2; Pratiksha Patel (DA) 1:24.30, 3.
400M indivudal medley: Rhia Singh (BAC) 5:41.98, 1; Saachi G (BAC) 5:45.09, 2; Shriya R Bhat (BAC) 5:49.74, 3.
4x100M freestyle relay: BAC ‘A’ (4:22.48), 1; BAC ‘B’ (4:25.05), 2.
4x200M freestyle relay: BAC ‘A’ (10:17.57), 1; BAC ‘B’ (10:59.09), 2; Nettakallappa Aquatic Centre (13:16.78), 3.
4x100M freestyle open relay: wim life (5:01.15), 1; NAC ‘B’ (5:01.79), 2.
Diving: 1 metre spring board: Men: Abhijeet R Gaonkar 209.5, 1; Om Amar Honagekar 189.65, 2; Swaroop Srinivas 173.2, 3.
Women: Rutuja V Pawar 157.45, 1; Anisha Ramesh Gaonkar 150.90, 2; Shreya M Goni 125.15, 3.
