Benedicton, Dhinidhi and Rishabh break new ground
B. Benedicton Rohit and Dhinidhi Desinghu stole the limelight by smashing the men's 50m butterfly and women's 100m freestyle meet records respectively in the National aquatics championships at the Kalinga Stadium Aquatic Centre here on Wednesday.
After securing the 100m butterfly gold with a record, Benedicton broke the 50m record twice to assert his supremacy. He timed 24.13 in the heats to go below Virdhawal Khade's six-year-old National record (24.19) before lowering the mark further to 24.11 and claim the gold.
'My body is tired after so many events, but it's good to break the record,' said Benedicton, who achieved the World championships qualification.
Dhinidhi, the women's 200m freestyle winner with a record, raced with authority to clock 56.78 for her second gold.
'I missed the World championships and World junior championships qualifying marks. But I'm happy to become the first Indian woman to go below 57 seconds,' said Dhinidhi, whose previous best was 57.08.
National Games gold medallist Rishabh Das (2:00.65) beat Utkarsh Patil (2:00.98) in the last five metres to win the men's 200m backstroke and achieved Worlds 'B' qualification.
The top two bettered Srihari Nataraj's National record and 'India best' time (2:02.29).
Tamil Nadu (Jashua Thomas, Rohit, M.J. Praveen Kumar Praveen, Adhithya Dinesh) secured the men's 4x100m freestyle title with a record (3:26.26). Top-four finishers, including Karnataka, Maharashtra and Railways, bettered the previous record.
The results (winners only): Men: 800m freestyle: Aryan Nehra (Guj) 8:10.40; 200m backstroke: Rishabh Das (Mah) 2:00.65 (NMR, Old 2:02.29, Srihari Nataraj, 2019); 50m butterfly: B. Benedicton Rohit (TN) 24.11 (NMR, Old 24.13, 2025); 4x100m freestyle: Tamil Nadu 3:26.26 (NMR, Old 3:28.09, Karnataka).
Women: 100m freestyle: Dhinidhi Desinghu (Kar) 56.78 (NMR, Old 57.73, Shivangi Sarma, 2022); 200m backstroke: Vihitha Nayana Loganathan (Kar) 2:21.85; 50m butterfly: Nine Venkatesh (Kar) 28.25; 400m medley: Saanvi Deshwal (Mah) 5:03.85; 4x100m freestyle relay: Karnataka 4:03.18.
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