Swimmer Srihari Nataraj breaks national record in 50 meter backstroke with timing of 25.11 seconds

Swimmer Srihari Nataraj breaks national record in 50 meter backstroke with timing of 25.11 seconds

Shrihari Natraj

Srihari Nataraj created a national record in 50m backstroke at Uzbekistan Open Championship with a timing of 25.11 seconds to clinch Gold. Indian swimmers in total won 29 medals: 18 gold, 7 silver and 4 bronze — in the event. Srihari’s broke the national record for the third time in two days .

Srihari has already achieved the ‘B’ standard time for Tokyo Olympics in the 100m event, the Indian had clocked his personal best of 54.10s in the heats before bettering it to 54.07s in the final to win the gold. He missed the Olympic ‘A’ qualification mark in the event by just 0.22 seconds. 

Sajan Prakash also shone at the meet, winning 4 Gold medals

Srihari Natarajan
Srihari Nataraj

In the 200m butterfly on Tuesday, Sajan had clocked 1.57.85s, missing the Olympics ‘A’ cut which is set at 1:56.48s. While a ‘B’ mark means the swimmer will receive an invitation to the event if the total available quota places are not filled up, an ‘A’ standard ensures an automatic berth to line up at the Tokyo Olympics.

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On Saturday, the Kerala swimmer, who is coming off a shoulder injury, finished with a time of 53.69s in the 100m butterfly to win a medal. Maana Patel and Suvana Baskar, who clocked a personal best of 30.28 seconds, win gold and silver respectively in the women’s 50m backstroke event.

Apart from Sajan and Srihari, four other Indian swimmers — Virdhawal Khade, Kushagra Rawat, Aryan Makhija and Advait – have achieved the B standard for Tokyo Olympics in their respective categories.

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