The second and penultimate day of the swimming competition of the State Games here on Wednesday saw Basavanagudi Aquatic Centre’s (BAC) swimmers extending their dominance with teen sensation Khushi Dinesh and the talented Arvind Mani bagging a double each.
Arvind, who stayed ahead right from the start, faced a slight challenge from Hemanth Jenukul VB of Global Swim Centre in the men’s 100M backstroke. The 20-year-old clinched the gold in 1:02.34. Jenukul timed 1:04.59 to edge his team-mate Nishanth Kumar for silver. Kumar took the bronze in 1:04.68.
Swimming his first event of the season, Arvind had it easy in the 200M individual medley too. He touched the pad in 2:15.67 to once again pip Jenukul.
Arvind, however, missed on a treble after finishing second in the 200M breaststroke final, a race that saw Prithvi M take the top of the podium in 2:36.42.
“I was swimming breaststroke after a long time and didn’t have enough practice. I am glad I managed to win in the backstroke event. I didn’t want to exert too much pressure on myself. My strategy was to build a lead and maintain it,” said Arvind.
After clinching two individual gold medals on the opening day, BAC’s Khushi continued from where she left off, to pocket two more gold.
The 13-year-old, emerged champion in the women’s 1500M freestyle and 200M individual medley.
