70th national aquatic championships: Saloni Dalal sets pool ablaze

Bengaluru: Saloni Dalal was the stand out performer on the fourth day of the 70th Glenmark senior national aquatic championships held in Ranchi on Tuesday.

The Karnataka swimmer clinched the gold medal in 200m breaststroke event with a new national record time of 2:44.37s, obliterating an almost two decade old previous best of 2:46.39s set by Sajini Shetty. Sayani Gosh from Bengal took the silver with 2:45.09s while Karnataka’s Harshitha Jayaram (2:45.48s) took the bronze.

Shraddha Sudhir added a silver to Karnataka’s kitty by finishing behind Sayani (5:10.57) with a time of 5:24.71s in the 400m medley event. Meanwhile in the men’s section, Avinash Mani and Likith SP took a bronze and silver respectively.

Mani (8:35.73s) finished third in the 800m freestyle event behind Saurabh Sangvekar (8:26.99s) and K Mitesh Manoj (8:35.32s) respectively. Likith (2:19.99s) finished behind Sandeep Sejwal (2:15.28s) in the 200m breaststroke event.

The other national record of the day came in the men’s 4x200m freestyle event as Railways clocked 7:45.24s to rewrite their own one-year-old record of 7:48.34s.

Services (7:54.52s) took silver while Karnataka side (8:04.68s) claimed bronze.
Karnataka team took the silver medal in the same event in the women’s division.
Railways continue to lead the medals tally with 14 gold, four silver and three bronze while Maharashtra are second with six gold, eight silver and three bronze. Karnataka climbed one place to third with an overall haul of four gold, 10 silver and 12 bronze medal.

Results: Men: 50M freestyle: Aaron D’Souza (Railways) 23.29, 1; Anshul Kothari (Guj) 23.31, 2; Sahil Chopra (Pun) 23.53, 3.
800M freestyle: Saurabh Sangvekar (Railways) 8:26.99, 1; K Mitesh Manoj (Services) 8:35.32, 2; Avinash Mani (Karnataka) 8:35.73, 3.
200M breaststroke: Sandeep Sejwal (Railways) 2:15.28, 1; Likith SP (Kar) 2:19.99, 2; Arun S (Services) 2:21.05, 3.
400M individual medley: Sanu Debnath (Railways) 4:36.95, 1; T Emil Robin Singh (TN) 4:39.27, 2; Supriyo Mondal (Railways) 4:42.14, 3.
4x200M freestyle relay: Railways 7:45.24 (NMR; Old: 7:48.34, Railways, 2015), 1; Services 7:54.52, 2; Karnataka 8:04.68, 3.
Women: 50M freestyle: Aditi Dhumatkar (Mah) 26.98, 1; Avantika Chavan (Mah) 27.13, 2; Maan Patel (Guj) 27.73, 3.
200M breaststroke: Saloni Dalal (Kar) 2:44.37 (NR; Old: 2:46.39, Sajini Shetty, 1997) 1; Sayani Gosh (Bengal) 2:45.09, 2; Harshita Jayaram (Kar) 2:45.48, 3.
400M individual medley: Sayani Gosh (Bengal) 5:10.57, 1; Shraddha Sudhir (Kar) 5:24.71, 2; Srishti Nag (Chg) 5:26.62, 3.
4x200M freestyle relay: Maharashtra 9:03.06, 1; Services 7:54.52, 2; Karnataka 8:04.68, 3.
Waterpolo: Men: Railways: 14 bt Police: 4. Women: Kerala: 9 bt Karnataka: 3; Maharashtra: 7 bt Bengal: 4.