12 hours ago
Teenager Rishabh re-writes 200m backstroke national record
CHENNAI: Rising star Rishabh Das is making a habit of breaking records. The 17-year-old was the cynosure of all eyes in the ongoing 78th Senior National Aquatic Championships 2025 in Bhubaneshwar on Wednesday as he pocketed the 200m backstroke gold medal with a sizzling effort. He stopped the clock at 2:00.65s, smashing the national record that was previously owned by Olympian Srihari Nataraj. What was more impressive was the fact that did it by two whole seconds.
"Actually, my race strategy in the previous heats was to push the next 100, not the first 100. But today (Wednesday), my race strategy was to push from the start for the whole 200. So that helped me to drop the time. It was painful, but it was worth it," explained Rishabh, while talking about the strategy he employed to return with a record run.
He was not even aiming for the record and was just looking to improve his previous best. "I was just trying to improve myself. I was just thinking to break my personal time, trying to get to two minutes," he said. Clearly, it turned out to be one heck of an improvement in the end.
Like many great things, Rishabh's introduction to the sport was completely by chance as he was spotted during a talent search programme organised by the coach of the swimming team of Fr Agnels School in Vashi, Navi Mumbai, Gokul Kamath.
"We start selections right from the age of four and five. And Rishabh was a part of the first talent search, which we did in 2012. He was barely four-and-a-half-years-old. So we've been training him from that time. He started doing good and went for the national level for the first time in the Under 10 nationals in Pune, 2017, and his major successes came, in fact, during COVID, when he really outperformed," said Kamath, reminiscing about his early days.
He also believed that apart from the support from the Swimming Federation of India (SFI) — especially from Chris Martin, the National Program Director and one of Rishabh's coaches — and the Sports Authority of India (SAI), parental support has played a pivotal role in Rishabh's development, a fact which Rishabh acknowledged.
"I started winning district medals about one-and-a-half-years after joining in 2012, after which, I started gaining interest. My parents decided that we'll continue swimming to see what we can get. It's been 13 years since then, and my parents have made a lot of sacrifices. Hats off to them! They're working way more harder than me, actually," he emphasized.
The teenager has had a steady evolution and he's no stranger to displaying eye-catching performances. Rishabh, who had been studying clips of the current Olympic 200m backstroke gold medallist Hubert Kos before competing for the 200m backstroke events, had previously dominated the junior nationals at the same venue last year, winning four medals and he had also re-written the 50m backstroke national mark then.
His latest national record meant that he receives a B grade qualifications into the World Aquatic Championships, which is scheduled to be held in Singapore in July. When asked about his future plans, he said, "My current focus remains on the World Junior Championships, which will be held in Romania. Whether I participate in the World Championships or not will be decided later with my coaches. Of course, my ultimate goal is to go to Olympics, but I'm not thinking about it right now. I just want to improve my time, and get better day by day. If I can do that, then someday, I'll surely go to the Olympics."
Meanwhile, Dhinidhi Desinghu swam a sizzling 100 freestyle, clocking 56.78 seconds to break the earlier record while Benediction Rohit, who had re-raised the national record earlier, made the World Championships cut after clocking 24.11s in 50m butterfly, claiming the gold medal in the process.
