Karnataka retain overall title

Karnataka extended their reign as the national swimming champions for the 27th consecutive year at the Prakash Tarun Pushkar Bhavan here on Wednesday.

At the 73rd Glenmark Senior National Aquatic Championships, the southern state clinched the overall title with a total haul of 246 points. Karnataka clinched the top spot in the men's division with 138 points ahead of Services (88) and came in second with 108 points in the women's section. Maharashtra clinched the top spot in the women's section with 129 points. Karnataka had a total haul of 36 medals which includes 14 gold, 12 silver and 10 bronze,

Karnataka swimmer Srihari Nataraj, who clinched four gold medals and set three new meet records, was named best male swimmer while Shivani Kataria of Haryana took the top prize in the women's category with two gold, one silver and one meet record. Both swimmers train under AC Jayaraj at the Bangalore Swimming Research Centre.

"I had no plans coming into the meet. The idea was to defend the back (backstroke) titles and enjoy my time here. I am happy with what I have achieved, now the target will be the Asian Age-group Championships," Srihari remarked.

Meanwhile, two new meet records were set on the final day of the meet. Srihari bettered his own previous meet record of 56.53 in the 100M backstroke with a swim of 55.63, thus bettering all three meet records in the backstroke events. He was followed by Madhu PS (58.30) of Services and Rakshith U Shetty (58.89) of Karnataka respectively.

The other meet record was set by Maharashtra's Kenisha Gupta in the 100M freestyle event. She stopped the clock at 58.26 to better the two-year-old record of 58.51 set by Shivani, who took home the silver.

Among other top performers from Karnataka on the final day was Likith SP, who continued his rich form with a swim of 1:02.59 to take home the yellow metal in the 100M breaststroke. Tanish George Mathew (2:04.23) finished third in 200m butterfly.

In the women's section, Karnataka's Khushi Dinesh continued to excel at the senior level with a sliver in the 800M freestyle. Saloni Dalal (1:15.89) also came in second in the 100M breaststroke.

Ridhima shines

Ridhima Veerendra Kumar, a fast-rising star from the State, bagged her first gold in the senior meet with a time of 1:07.19 in the 100M backstroke. Maana Patel of Gujarat had finished ahead but was disqualified due to a false start. Suvana C Baskar (1:07.22) took the silver. Anvesha Girish won silver in the 200m butterfly event.

Results: Men: 200M freestyle: Kushagra Rawat (Del) 1:53.44, 1; Anand AS (Services) 1:54.97, 2; Aaron Fernandes (Mah) 1:55.71, 3.
100M breaststroke: Likith SP (Kar) 1:02.59, 1; Danush S (TN) 1:04.18, 2; M Lohith (Railways) 1:05.08, 3.
100M backstroke: Srihari Nataraj (Kar) 55.63 (NMR, OR: Srihari Nataraj 56.53, Thiruvananthapuram, 2018), 1; Madhu PS (Services) 58.30, 2; Rakshith U Shetty (Kar) 58.89, 3.
200M butterfly: Sajan Prakash (Pol) 2:00.13, 1; Supriya Mondal (Railways) 2:03.41, 2; Tanish George Mathew (Kar) 2:04.23, 3.

Women: 800M freestyle: Richa Mishra (Pol) 9:22.50, 1; Khushi Dinesh (Kar) 9:24.81, 2; Bhavya Sachdeva (Del) 9:31.41, 3.
100M breaststroke: Kareena Shankta (Mah) 1:14.97, 1; Saloni Dalal (Kar) 1:15.89, 2; Chahat Arora (Pun) 1:16.36, 3.
100M backstroke: Ridhima Veerendra Kumar (Kar) 1:07.19, 1; Suvana C Baskar (Kar) 1:07.22, 2; Soubrity Mondal (Ben) 1:07.41, 3.
200M butterfly: Apeksha Fernandes (Mah) 2:23.17, 1; Anvesha Girish (Kar) 2:25.43, 2; Shakthi B (TN) 2:25.78, 3.
100M freestyle: Kenisha Gupta (Mah) 58.26 (NMR, OR: Shivani Kataria 58.51 Bhopal, 2017), 1; Shivani Kataria (Har) 59.21, 2; Sadhvi Dhuri (Mah) 1:00.06, 3.

Individual achievements: Best swimmer: Men: Srihari Nataraj (Kar, 4 golds & 3 NMR). Women: Shivani Kataria (Har, 2 gold, 1 silver & 1 NMR).
Men: Champions: Karnataka (138 points); Runners-up: Services (88 points).
Women: Champions: Maharashtra (129 points); Runners-up: Karnataka (108 points).
Overall champions (swimming): Karnataka 246 points.

Diving: Men: Champions: Services (30 points); Runners-up: Railways (26 points).
Women: Champions: Railways (27 points), Runners-up: Madhya Pradesh (13 points).

Water Polo: Men: Services, 1; Railways, 2; Kerala, 3.
Women: Maharashtra, 1; Bengal, 2; Kerala, 3; Karnataka, 4.