Sajan corners the limelight; five new records set
September 20, 2018
Sajan Prakash kept his date with records as he blitzed his way to two new marks on the opening day of the Glenmark 72nd National senior swimming championship here on Wednesday.
Five new records, including a best Indian performance, were set. Sajan Prakash started in style by erasing the 200m freestyle meet record in the first final of the day.
Sajan trailed Srihari Nataraj for a major part but shifted gears after the third lap.
Sajan caught up the Srihari midway through the last lap and finished strongly to finish in 1:50.35s to break Aaron D’Souza’s old mark (1:51.38) set in 2011.
He then came up with a commanding performance in the 200m IM to set his second meet record of the day. Sajan led from the start and faced little competition.
Sajan clocked 2:05.63 to break Rehan Poncha’s nine-year-old record of 2:05.89s.
Sandeep Sejwal, who set a new record during the 50m breaststroke heats, was slower in the final but still won the gold easily.
In the women’s 50m breaststroke final, Saloni Dalal upset A.V. Jayaveena, who had set a new meet record during the heats. Jayaveena, who became the first Indian women to come up with a sub-34s performance, was expected to win but was pipped at the finish by Saloni.
International Shivani Kataria led from start to finish to improve her own record in the 200m freestyle event.
Shivani, who finished at least 10 metres ahead of her nearest rival, clocked 2:05.86s to sink her own mark (2:05.63) set last year.
The results: Men: 200m freestyle: 1. Sajan Prakash (Ker) (1:50.35 – NR; OR – 1:51.38. Aaron D’Souza, Kar, 2011), 2. Srihari Nataraj (Kar) (1:51.49), 3. Aaryan Makhjia (Kar) (1:52.47).
200m IM: 1. Sajan Prakash (Ker) (2:05.83 – NR; OR – 2:05.89, Rehan Poncha, Kar, 2009), 2. Sanu Debnath (Rlwys) (2:09.06), 3. Supriya Mondal (Rlwys) (2:09.79).
50m breaststroke: 1. Sandeep Sejwal (Del) (28.39), 2. S.P. Likith (Kar) (28.74), 3. Puneet Rana (Police) (29.14). (NR – 27,89, Sandeep Sejwal, 2018, OR – 28.29, Sandeep Sejwal, Delhi, 2013).
4x100m freestyle: 1. Railways (3:30.37), 2. Services (3:32.70), 3. SFI (3:34.11).
Women: 200m freestyle: 1. Shivani Kataria (Har) (2:05.86 – NR; OR- 2:06.63, Shivani, 2017), 2. Khusi Dinesh (Kar) (2:10.59), 3. Prachi Tokas (Del) (2:10.79).
200m IM: 1. Richa Mishra (Police) (2:24.23), 2. Kenisha Gupta (SFI) (2:27.60), 3. Sayani Ghosh (Ben) (2:28.24).
50m breaststroke: 1. Saloni Dalal (Kar) (34.56s), 2. A.V. Jayaveena (TN) (34.59), 3. Annie Jain (MP) (35.21) (NR – 33.81, A.V. Jayaveena, 2018; OR – Priyanka Priyadarshini, Delhi, 2012).
4x100m freestyle relay: 1. SFI (4:04.16), 2. Railways (4:07.61), 3. Karnataka (4:07.96).
