Asian medallist Srihari Nataraj broke his seven-year-old men’s 50m backstroke record on his way to retain the title at the National aquatics championships in Ahmedabad on Wednesday (June 17, 2026).

The 25-year-old Srihari performed better than his 2019 National mark of 25.58 in the morning heats by clocking 25.21. In the evening session, he recorded 25.32 in the final to claim the gold medal.

Saanvi Deshwal lowered the women’s 200m medley mark with 2:19.15. She erased Hashika Ramachandra’s three-year-old record of 2:21.15.

Karnataka swimmers won the 4x100m freestyle mixed relay crown with a new record.

The results (winners only):

Men: 50m freestyle: Jashua Thomas (TN) 23.24; 50m backstroke: Srihari Nataraj (Kar) 25.32; 100m breaststroke: Danush Suresh (TN) 1:02.19; 4x200m freestyle relay: Karnataka (Dharshan S., Akash Mani, Aneesh S. Gowda, Dhakshan S.) 7:38.71.

Women: 200m freestyle: Dhinidhi Desinghu (Kar) 2:03.07; 50m backstroke: Suvana C. Baskar (Kar) 29.85; 200m medley: Saanvi Deshwal (Mah) 2:19.15 (NMR, Old 2:21.15, Hashika Ramachandra, 2023); 4x100m freestyle mixed relay: Karnataka (Akash Mani, Aneesh S. Gowda, Nina Venkatesh, Tanishi Gupta) 3:37.68 (NMR, Old 3:41.18, Karnataka, 2025).