Short Course World Championships: Swimmer Srihari Nataraj makes it a hat-trick of records

Abu Dhabi: Star Indian swimmer Srihari Nataraj continued his record-breaking spree at the FINA short course World Championships here on Monday, registering his third ‘Best Indian time’ in the tournament. The 20-year-old clocked 48.65s in the men’s 100m freestyle event to better Sajan Prakash’s best Indian performance. However, the timing wasn’t enough to take the Bengaluru swimmer to the semifinals as he finished 38th in the overall heats and only the top 16 swimmers move forward. Nataraj, who competed at the Tokyo Olympics after becoming the second Indian swimmer after Prakash to breach the ‘A’ qualifying time for the Olympics, had lodged ‘Best Indian times’ in the 50m and 100m backstroke events last week. Delhi’s Kushagra Rawat clocked 15:07.86s in the men’s 1500m freestyle to finish 21st in the overall heats. The timings clocked and records in this meet, which is being contested in a 25m swimming pool, are different from the more traditional long course ones. A short course meet is contested in 25-metre pools, while the 50-metres pools are called long courses. In swimming, a timing is considered a national record when it has been achieved at the National Aquatic Championships. Hence, the timings clocked in other meets are called the ‘Best Indian time’. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram