Sajan Prakash rewrote his own men’s 200m Butterfly National Record with a fantastic effort (1:56.96) but fell short of the Olympic Qualification Time by 0.48 seconds in the Belgrade Trophy swimming competition in Belgrade on Saturday. He may have secured the Olympic berth had he not slowed down considerably in the third of the four laps
The 28-year-old Sajan Prakash dipped under the 1:57 mark for the first time, having set the National Record at 1:57.73 in the Glenmark National Championships in Thiruvananthapuram on September 23, 2018. Yet, when he looks at the 30.59-second third lap, perhaps caused by a slow turn after 100m, he will be disappointed, especially since the other three laps were clocked at 27.71, 29.41 and 29.41.
Backstroker Srihari Nataraj also warmed up for next weekend’s assault on the Olympic Qualification Time with a 54.45-second effort that fetched India the third gold of the evening after teenager Shoan Ganguli topped the 400m Medley event in 4 minutes 37.70 seconds. Had Srihari Natraraj not slowed down in his return (28.35 after 26.10 over the first 50m), he may have sealed the Olympic berth on Saturday itself.
Perhaps both Indians were hindered a bit by the lack of competition to push them harder through their races. A fair reflection of that can be had from the fact that Sajan Prakash’s nearest rival was nearly four seconds behind him while Srihari Nataraj was more than three and a half seconds behind him. But since they were always racing the clock, they could have nailed automatic berths on Saturday itself with a bit more effort and luck. Perhaps, both are conserving themselves with the aim of getting their target times in the Sette Colli meet in Rome next weekend.
Maana Patel claimed the silver medal in the 50m backstroke in a time of 29.79 seconds, her best effort over the distance since the 29.51 she clocked in the FINA Swimming World Cup in Singapore on November 15, 2018. Kenisha Gupta placed fourth in the women’s 50m Freestyle in 26.65 seconds, just a shade outside her personal best of 26.61 set in Tashkent in April.
Indians’ results (heats time in brackets):
Men
100m Freestyle: 7. Tanish George Mathew 52.39 seconds (52.39).
100m Backstroke: 1. Srihari Nataraj 54.45 (57.55).
50m Butterfly: 6. Tanish George Mathew 25.89 (25.67).
200m Butterfly: 1. Sajan Prakash 1:56.96 (New National Record. Old: 1:57.73, Sajan Prakash, Thiruvananthapuram, Sept 23, 2018) (2:01.99); 3. Tanish George Mathew 2:13.55 (2:10.71).
400m Medley: 1. Shoan Ganguli 4:37.70 (4:37.81).
Women
50m Freestyle: 4. Kenisha Gupta 26.65 seconds (26.81).
50m Backstroke: 2. Maana Patel 29.79 seconds (30.36).
