Asian Aquatics Championships 2025: My biggest international medal, says Srihari Nataraj

Two silver and a bronze on the opening day of the Asian Aquatics Championships was a satisfying outcome for Srihari.

Ahmedabad: “I'm going to enjoy some ice-creams!” This was the first thought of Srihari Nataraj when you asked him what’s next following a gruelling day that saw him compete in five races in one day. And he had earned the right to enjoy after the Indian ace swimmer won a chunk of medals out of them!

Two silver (200m freestyle and 50m backstroke) and a bronze (men’s 4x100m relay medley) on the opening day of the Asian Aquatics Championships was a satisfying outcome for Srihari, whose years of hard work finally yielded results.

“This is probably my biggest international medal,” the 24-year-old swimmer told DH. “I have been finishing outside the medal position at so many major events. Whether it is Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Youth Olympics, World Junior, I have been fifth or sixth in every one of them. So, this is a big medal for me.”

This showing was in the making for sometime now as Srihari has been in hot form this season with two national records (100m and 200m freestyle) at the World University Games last July. However, the Asian success had its fair share of trouble as things didn’t go according to plan in the morning.

With 61 events taking place across four disciplines in two weeks in Ahmedabad, organisers have scheduled the heats for an 8 am start followed by medal rounds in the evening due to logistical issues. The change in schedule admittedly threw the swimmer "off a bit" as he finished seventh in the 200m freestyle heats, worryingly almost three seconds slower than the leader and eventual gold medallist Haibo Xu of China at that point.

“A lot of factors came into play. I was up at 5am, which was new for me because we generally don’t swim tournaments so early. But I understand the logistical issues due to which we had to start early. Personally, I like to start off a meet with a good heat swim, where I am the top seed or top three going into the final. So today’s heats did threw me off quite a bit but the gap in between before the finals helped me to focus on the process and not worry about the race,” he said.

While he cut down the gap to 1.64s in the final, there could be an added bonus too as his final timing (1:48.47 seconds) is within the sports ministry’s newly-minted guidelines for Asian Games qualification. The mandate requires one to have a performance equivalent to top six at the last Asiad. His coach Nihar Ameen is a happy man too but knows the challenges ahead are taller.

“Pleased with the result on the opening day while 100m backstroke and freestyle events for him are yet to come,” said the Dronacharya awardee. “As far as Asiad are concerned, we can’t get ahead of ourselves yet as races there will be much faster. However, Srihari’s best is yet to come as we are aiming to peak by the time of Commonwealth Games and Asian Games next year.”

For Srihari, though, the medals were more than podium finishes; they were a sweet reward for years of persistence. After a day of gruelling races, the swimmer finally allowed himself to bask in the moment, ending the night tired but happy.