Maharashtra cry halt to Karnataka's long reign

One of the most dominant winning streaks in Indian sport ended on Sunday when Maharashtra emerged overall champions in the National swimming chamionships, dethroning Karnataka who reigned for 23 years.

With their top swimmers having moved to other teams, Karnataka were always going to struggle in the face of a strong Maharashtra challenge.

It panned out exactly that way, with Maharashtra topping the field with 215 points. Karnataka finished runners-up with 175 points.

On the final day, Maharashtra’s Aditi Dhumatkar set a national record in the women’s 100M freestyle, taking the gold in 58.81 seconds. She erased the mark of 58.91 set by Shikha Tandon in 2003.

Karnataka won just two bronze medals on the final day, through Arvind M in the men’s 200M individual medley and Damini Gowda in the women’s 200M individual medley.

Services’ Madhu P S was adjudged the best male swimmer, having won three gold and one silver, besides setting two new records. Maana Patel of Gujarat, who claimed three gold and one bronze and set two new records, won the best female swimmer prize.

Results: Men: 100M freestyle: Aaron D’Souza (Railways) 51.19 seconds, 1; Anshul Kothari (Gujarat) 52.47, 2; Neel Contractor (Gujarat) 52.51, 3.

800M freestyle: Saurabh Sangvekar (Maharashtra) 8:14.65, 1; Sajan Prakash (Railways) 8:14.76, 2; Sanu Debnath (Railways) 8:36.53, 3.

200M individual medley: Madhu P S (Services) 2:09.28, 1; Sandeep Sejwal (Railways) 2:11.35, 2; Arvind M (Karnataka) 2:11.35, 2.

4x200 freestyle relay: Railways 7:56.30, 1; Gujarat 7:56.62, 2; Services 8:03.27, 3.
Women: 100M freestyle: Aditi Dhumatkar (Maharashtra) 58.81 seconds (National record. Old: 58.91, Shikha Tandon, 2003), 1; Shivani Kataria (Haryana) 59.39, 2; Maana Patel (Guajrat) 1:00.34, 3.

50M butterfly: Jyotsana Pansare (Maharashtra) 29.06 seconds, 1; Avantika Chauhan (Maharashtra) 29.78, 2; Shivani Kataria (Haryana) 29.88, 3.

200M individual medley: Richa Mishra (Police) 2:26.95, 1; A V Jayaveena (Tamil Nadu) 2:28.25, 2; Damini K Gowda (Karnataka) 2:29.32, 3.

Team championships (swimming): Men: Railways (175 points). Women: Maharashtra (141 points). Overall team championship: Maharashtra (215 points) 1, Karnataka (175 points) 2.

Best swimmer: Men: Madhu P S (Services). Women: Maana Patel (Gujarat).

Team championships (Diving): Men: Services (30 points). Women: Railways (29 points).

Best diver: Men: K Ramananda (Services). Women: Simran Rajani (Maharashtra).

Waterpolo: Men: Services 1, Railways 2. Best player: Aneesh Kumar (Services). Women: Kerala 1. Maharashtra 2. Best player: AA Archa (Kerala).