As expected, Rehan Poncha opened the meet with a bang. His 200m Backstroke time of 2:08.15 beat Wilson Cherian’s record of 2:08.74 set in 1986. This was one of the oldest records in Indian men’s swimming. The only other record of that time that still stands is that of Khazan Singh Tokas* in the 200m Butterfly.
The results of the day were:
100m Freestyle (Men): T. A. Sujith representing the Services won the 100m Freestyle with a time of 53.47. Age does not seem to bother Sujith as he keeps getting faster. He is really quick for his height, around 5ft. 7in. Aaron D’souza came in second with a time of 53.79. This is a really good time considering his age, 15yrs. Aman Muralidharan came in third with a time of 54.41. Sujith would be looking forward to his favorite event, 50m Freestyle, to make it a sprint double.
The National Record stands in the name of Virdhawal Khade with a time of 51.41 set at the Junior Nationals in July this year.
The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 50.95.
100m Freestyle (Women): No surprises in this event as Shikha swam her way to victory with a time of 59.04sec. Looks like there was absolutely no one to push her as Lekha Kamath came in second after a little over two seconds, with a time of 1.01.19. Shubha C came in third with a time of 1.01.51. Shikha looks all set to make it a sprint double with the 50m Freestyle on the last day.
Shikha holds the National record in this event with a time of 58.32 set in 2003. She qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympics in this event.
The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 57.17.
800m Freestyle (Men): Teammates Rohit Havaldar and Aaron D’Souza dominated the event with the latter settling for silver. Though Rohit won with a personal best time of 8:33.74, he just fell short of regaining the National record he lost to Aaron. Aaron came in second with a time of 8:35.89 and Merwyn Chen came in third with a time of 8:52.05.
Aaron D’Souza holds the National record with a time of 8:33.37 set at the Asian Age-Group Swimming Championships last month.
This is not an Olympic event for men, though it is an event at the World Swimming Championships.
800m Freestyle (Women): Richa Mishra won comfortably with a time of 9:25.57. This would have been a good warm up for her main events. Sushaka Pratap came in second with a time of 9:36.10 and Aarti Ghorpade came in third with a time of 9:46.25.
The National record is held by Shikha Tandon with a time of 9:20.56 which she set at the 2000 Pusan Asian Swimming Championship.
The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 8:54.40.
The results of the day were:
100m Freestyle (Men): T. A. Sujith representing the Services won the 100m Freestyle with a time of 53.47. Age does not seem to bother Sujith as he keeps getting faster. He is really quick for his height, around 5ft. 7in. Aaron D’souza came in second with a time of 53.79. This is a really good time considering his age, 15yrs. Aman Muralidharan came in third with a time of 54.41. Sujith would be looking forward to his favorite event, 50m Freestyle, to make it a sprint double.
The National Record stands in the name of Virdhawal Khade with a time of 51.41 set at the Junior Nationals in July this year.
The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 50.95.
100m Freestyle (Women): No surprises in this event as Shikha swam her way to victory with a time of 59.04sec. Looks like there was absolutely no one to push her as Lekha Kamath came in second after a little over two seconds, with a time of 1.01.19. Shubha C came in third with a time of 1.01.51. Shikha looks all set to make it a sprint double with the 50m Freestyle on the last day.
Shikha holds the National record in this event with a time of 58.32 set in 2003. She qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympics in this event.
The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 57.17.
800m Freestyle (Men): Teammates Rohit Havaldar and Aaron D’Souza dominated the event with the latter settling for silver. Though Rohit won with a personal best time of 8:33.74, he just fell short of regaining the National record he lost to Aaron. Aaron came in second with a time of 8:35.89 and Merwyn Chen came in third with a time of 8:52.05.
Aaron D’Souza holds the National record with a time of 8:33.37 set at the Asian Age-Group Swimming Championships last month.
This is not an Olympic event for men, though it is an event at the World Swimming Championships.
800m Freestyle (Women): Richa Mishra won comfortably with a time of 9:25.57. This would have been a good warm up for her main events. Sushaka Pratap came in second with a time of 9:36.10 and Aarti Ghorpade came in third with a time of 9:46.25.
The National record is held by Shikha Tandon with a time of 9:20.56 which she set at the 2000 Pusan Asian Swimming Championship.
The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 8:54.40.
100m Breaststroke (Men): Sandeep Sejwal is inching ever so nearer to the Olympic qualifying mark. He swam 1:04 twice in one day which is remarkable in itself. He won the event with a new National record clocking 1:04.36, just 0.64sec. slower than the qualifying time. He might have made the cut had he had someone to push him. He showed his class by beating his closest opposition by more than five seconds; one of the biggest winning margins for this event. Deepak Kumar Singh came in second with a time of 1:09.53 and Shyam Singh came in third with a time of 1:09.78..The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 1:03.72.
100m Breaststroke (Women): Tejasvini V won this event with a time of 1:21.04. Teammate Prerna Jain came in second with a time of 1:22.13 and Poorva Shetty came in third with a time of 1:22.69.
The National record is held by Sajini Shetty with a time of 1:17.35 set in 1997.
The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 1: 11.43.
200m Backstroke (Men): Rehan finished on top with a new National record clocking 2:08.15. Praveen Tokas came in second with a time of 2:10.48 and Rohit Havaldar came in third with a time of 2:16.67. Look out for Rehan in the 200, 400m Individual Medley and 200m Butterfly (this would be interesting with Arjun Muralidharan in the fray).
The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 2:03.91.
200m Backstroke (Women): Fariha Zaman won with a time of 2:33.83. Madhavi Giri came in second with a time of 2:35.45 and Aarti Ghorpade came in third with a time of 2:35.89.
The National Record is held by Shikha Tandon with a time of 2:26.66 set in 2005.
The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 2:17.38.
This was just day one, lots more action in the days to come.
* Khazan Singh Tokas is the only Indian swimmer to have won a medal at the Asian Games. He won the silver in the 200m Butterfly at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games.
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