Madhu, Maana emerge the best swimmers

Madhu P.S. and Maana Patel smashed National records in style to emerge as the best swimmers in the men’s and women’s sections respectively on the concluding day of the Glenmark National aquatics championship at the V.B.B. Stadium here on Wednesday.

In the 50m backstroke heats in the morning session, Maana registered 29.89 to improve upon her old record of 30.25 set last year in Rajkot. This was also the best Indian timing as Maana bettered her own time of 30.03 recorded in the junior National championship in Pune in 2015.

The 17-year-old Gujarat swimmer did a 30.03 in the final in the evening session to take the 50m backstroke crown.

Maana’s showing on the final day helped her retain her ‘best swimmer’ title for the fourth consecutive year.

Another record

Services swimmer Madhu, who had broken the 100m backstroke record on the opening day of the meet, created another new record in 50m backstroke. He clocked 26.73 to surpass his own record and the best Indian timing of 27.02 made in 2014.

The 25-year-old gave a spirited effort to maintain a slight edge over his rivals before touching the wall in the most keenly fought race of the championship in which the top six swimmers registered sub-28 times.

Arvind Mani bagged the silver with 27.30, while Vedant Seth and Rohit Imoliya clocked an identical 27.33 to claim bronze medals.

Aditi Dhumatkar upset Olympian Shiwani Kataria to take the women’s 100m freestyle title.

Karnataka retained its overall team championship title with 246 points. Railways topped the overall medals. It secured 23 medals, including 16 gold, followed by Maharashtra, which also picked an identical number of medals including eight gold medals.

The results: Swimming: 100m freestyle: Men: 1. Aaron D’Souza (RSPB) 51.65, 2. Anshul Kothari (Guj) 51.94, 3. Sahil Chopra (Pun) 52.56. Women: 1. Aditi Dhumatkar (Mah) 59.14, 2. Shiwani Kataria (Har) 59.50, 3. Rayna Seldanha (Mah) 59.91; 800m: 1. Shruthi Mahalingam (TN) 9:40.63, 2. H.M. Preksha (Kar) 9:42.12, 3. Monique Gandhi (Mah) 9:44.14.

50m backstroke: Men: 1. Madhu P.S. (SSCB) 26.73 (NR, previous 27.02, Madhu P.S., SSCB, 2014), 2. Arvind Mani (Kar) 27.30, 3. Vedant Seth (Har) and Rohit Imoliya (SSCB) 27.33; Women: 1. Maana Patel (Guj) 30.03 (29.89 NR in heats, previous 30.25, Maana Patel, Gujarat, 2015) 2. Jyotsna Pansare (Mah) 30.91, 3. Avantika Chavan (Mah) 31.63.

100m breaststroke: Men: 1. Sandeep Sejwal (RSPB) 1:02.12, 2. S.P. Likith (Kar) 1:04.15, 3. Jashandeep Singh (Pun) 1:04.64; Women: 1. Chahat Arora (Chd) 1:16.39, 2. Saloni Dalal (Kar) 1:16.54, 3. Harshitha Jayaram (Kar) 1:17.61.

Mixed 4x50m freestyle: 1. Maharashtra 1:42.91, 2. Karnataka 1:44.20, 3. Gujarat 1:44.33.

Best Swimmer: Men: P.S. Madhu (SSCB) 19 points; Women: Maana Patel (Gujarat) 25 points.

Team championship: Swimming: Men: RSPB 175 points; Women: Maharashtra 148 points;Overall: Karnataka 246 points.

Diving: Men: SSCB 33 points; Women: RSPB 27 points.

Waterpolo: Men: 1. RSPB, 2. SSCB, 3. All India Police; Women: 1.w Kerala, 2. Maharashtra, 3. Bengal.

Source: The hindu