Opening day at the 39th Sub Junior and 49th Junior National Aquatic Championships 2023 Odisha witnessed three new national records

Making the most of the state-of-the-art Indoor Aquatic Centre which added an international flavour to the meet at the iconic Kalinga Sports Complex here, top swimmers of the country produced exhilarating races on Wednesday.

In the 100m butterfly for Group I boys, Jananjoy J Hazarika of Assam clocked 55.99 seconds to win the gold ahead of Karnataka’s Kartikeyan Nair (56.66). Earlier in the day, Hazarika smashed the national record in the prelims where he eclipsed Maharashtra’s Mihir Ambre’s record of 55.65 secs created in 2017, as per a press release from the Swimming Federation of India (SFI).

Karnataka girls dominated on day one, with Manavi Varma opening the medal tally with a gold in the 200m IM for Group I. She touched the pads at 2:22.86 to beat Raghvi Ramanujam of Maharashtra who clocked 2:30.56 to take home the silver. Adding to Karnataka’s tally, Tanishi Gupta not only won the 200IM in Group II, but she also created a new national record. She clocked 2:24.83 to erase state-mate Manavi Varma’s record of 2:26.99 created in 2022. Karnataka’s Naisha bagged the silver with a time of 2:29.84.

The day’s third national record came in the 50m breaststroke for Group I boys, with Vidith S Shankar of Karnataka clocking 29.40s to better his own record of 29.47 clocked in the prelims earlier in the day. He broke Haryana’s Vansh Pannu’s record of 29.59 created in 2022.

Declaring the meet open ahead of the evening session, R Vineel Krishna, Secretary-cum-Commissioner, Sports and Youth Service, Odisha said, “We are working in close partnership with the Swimming Federation of India and we are taking their help in developing our own swimming eco system in Odisha. We have constructed this new Aquatic Centre which is one of a kind in the country. We are also the sponsors for junior-level aquatics, hence we have hosted back-to-back nationals here and we have a lot of emerging talent in this category, hence we want to give them the best exposure and facilities.

Monal Chokshi, SFI Secretary General further added, “We appreciate the efforts of Odisha State Government who have put in great efforts to create this world-class Aquatic Centre. It is certainly one of the most modern facilities in the country and a fine opportunity for our swimmers to race here.”

Results:
Boys:
Group I: 400m Freestyle: 1. Yug Chelani (Raj) 4:04.45; 2. Ronak Nitin Sawant (Mah) 4:05.40; Saswata Roy (Ben) 4:06.65;
100m butterfly: 1. Jananjoy J Hazarika (Assa) 55.99 (clocked NMR 55.61 in heats); 2. Kartikeyan Nair (Kar) 56.66; 3. Parambrata Biswas (Ben) 57.63.

50m breaststroke: 1. Vidith S Shankar (Kar) 29.40 NMR; 2. Rana Pratap (Jhar) 29.75; 3. Kevin Jinu (Ker) 30.37
Group II: 400m Freestyle: 1.Yuvraj Singh (Del) 4:14.29, 2. Prthviraj Menon (Kar) 4:19.23; 3. Akshai Thakuria (Kar) 4:22.12
100m butterfly: 1. Ishaan Mehra (Kar) 59.14; 2. Harijarthik Velu (Kar) 1:01.24; 3. Manash Pratim (Assa) 1:01.35
Group III: 200m freestyle: 1. Jas Singh (Kar) 2:22.24; 2. Vihaang Ashishkumar (Guj) 2:23.21; 3. Kabir Aryaman (Mah) 2:23.66
100m backstroke: Krishiv Doshi (MP) 1:13.34; 2. Vihaan S P (Goa) 1:14.50; 3. AP Arya (TN) 1:15.54.

Girls:
Group I: 200m IM: 1. Manavi Varma (Kar) 2:22.86; 2. Raghvi Ramanujam (Mah) 2:30.56; 3. Subhranshini Priyadarshini (Assa) 2:30.57
100m backstroke: 1. Ridhima Veerendra (Kar) 1:05.85; 2. Shalini R Dixit (Kar) 1:06.51; 3. Sanjana Manguesh (Goa) 1:07.63
Group II: 200m IM: 1. Tanishi Gupta (Kar) 2:24.83 (NMR); 2. Naisha (Kar) 2:29.84; 3. Saanvi Deshwal (Mah) 2:32.39
100m backstroke: 1. Naisha (Kar) 1:08.10; 2. Tanishi Gupta (Kar) 1:08.72; 3. Sri Nithya (Tel) 1:09.33
Group III: 200m freestyle: 1. Anushka Sanjeev (Mah) 2:25.02; 2. Lasya Sri (AP) 2:26.12; 3. Adriza Rani Chetia (Assa) 2:27.56
100m backstroke: 1. Shivani Karra (Tel) 1:11.83; 2. Shreya Binil (Ker) 1:13.82; 3. Debopriya D (Ben) 1:16.56. (ANI)