Mondal and Vedika setting more records

Swadesh Mondal and Vedika Amin continued in their merry ways at the Glenmark 33rd sub-junior National aquatic championships, setting more records on the penultimate day of the meet at the Basavanagudi Aquatic Centre here. A total of three new records were established on Friday, with Assam’s Uttara Gogoi raising the bar in the Group 3 girls’ 50m butterfly event. After having broken

records thrice (once in the heats) the previous day, Mondal added the 50m breaststroke record to that list, clocking 34.87.

Vedika too picked up from where she had left off, erasing the Group 3 girls’ 50m breaststroke record in what was the evening’s final event. This was the Maharashtra’s girl third record-breaking effort, after success in the 4x50m relay and the 100m breaststroke.

Shining bright

Uttara, who two years ago had emerged the ‘best swimmer’ (in Group 4) at the National championships, shone bright on Friday. In the 50m butterfly, she finished in a time of 31.25s, eclipsing Sherlyn Meghna Devadason's 31.78, a record incidentally established at the same venue six years ago.

“It was a tough race. The heats were even harder,” she said later. The 12-year-old from Sivasagar in Assam trains at the SAI’s Dr. SPM Complex in Delhi. Her victory is symbolic of the success Assam, not one of swimming’s traditional powers, has enjoyed here. The State now stands third on the medal table with six golds in total. Karnataka (9) and Maharashtra (8), predictably, continue to rule the roost.

The results: Swimming: Boys: Group 3: 100m backstroke: 1. Kapil Shetty (Kar) 1:10.69s, 2. Sahil Laskar (Mah) 1:13.03, 3. Dhyan Balakrishna (Kar) 1:13.83; 50m breaststroke: 1. Swadesh Mondal (WB) 34.87, NMR (Old: 34.91, Viraj Prabhu, Mah, 2010), 2. Sarmen Terang (Asm) 35.56, 3. K.N. Metei (Del) 36.4; 50m butterfly: 1. Bikram Changmai (Asm) 29.32, 2. Rajdeep Gogoi (Asm) 29.4, 3. Hiren Shagolsem (Man) 29.43.

Group 4: 50m freestyle: 1. Amey B. Patil (Kar) 31.31, 2. Pranjal Patra (WB) 31.48, 3. Ronak Sawant (Mah) 32; 200m IM: 1. Vidith S. Shankar (Kar) 2:46.87, 2. Ronak Sawant (Mah) 2:47.49, 3. H. Nithik (TN) 2:51.52.

Girls: Group 3: 100m backstroke: 1. Aeka Chatra (Mah) 1:15.38s, 2. Nina Venkatesh (Kar) 1:15.52, 3. Vedika Amin (Mah) 1:16.86; 50m breaststroke: 1. Vedika Amin (Mah) 37.4, NMR (Old: 37.47, Monique Gandhi, Mah, 2010), 2. Kareena Shankta (Mah) 38.31, 3. Adithi Balaji (Pdy) 38.82; 50m butterfly: 1. Uttara Gogoi (Asm) 31.25, NMR (Old: 31.78, Sherlyn Meghna Devadason, TN, 2010), 2. Aeka Chatra (Mah) 31.45, 3. Astha Choudhury (Asm) 31.79.

Group 4: 50m freestyle: 1. Jahnabi Kashyap (Asm) 32.93, 2. Srijitha Ghosh (WB) 33.1, 3. Anaya Punamiya (Mah) 33.26; 200m IM: 1. Lavleen Das (Asm) 2:55.66, 2. Anaya Punamiya (Mah) 2:56.6, 3. Nitya Khinvasara (Mah) 2:57.48

Diving (winners only):

Boys: Group 2: 3M spring board: Ankit Punia (UP) 311.90; Group 3: High board: Om Awasthi (Mah) 197.90.

Girls: Group 2: 3M spring board: Marathe Titiksha (MP) 207.70; Group 3: High board: Moondara Ishpreet Kaur (MP) 114.80.