New Delhi: Indian athletes delivered a spectacular performance at the Asian Aquatics Championships 2025, smashing national records and securing historic podium finishes. The highlight came on Monday when the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team stormed to a silver medal, setting a new national record in the process.
The quartet of Aneesh S Gowda, Shoan Ganguly, Sajan Prakash, and Srihari Nataraj put on a thrilling display, surging past Malaysia in the final leg to claim second place. They clocked 7:23.38, narrowly missing gold to China, who touched home at 7:21.05. Malaysia settled for bronze at 7:23.43.
For two-time Olympian Srihari Nataraj, the success continued as he added to his growing tally at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex. Nataraj has now bagged four medals at the continental meet, having earlier won silver in the men’s 200m freestyle, silver in the 50m backstroke, and bronze in the 4x100m medley relay.
India also celebrated a historic moment in diving, with Indiver Sairam and Willson Sing Ningthoujam securing the nation’s first-ever diving medal at the Asian Aquatics Championships. The duo clinched bronze in the men’s 10m synchronised platform event. Coach Shannon Roy credited the medal to months of preparation, including international training camps and exposure at the World Championships in Singapore.
The medal haul didn’t stop there. Rishabh Das took bronze in the 200m backstroke with a time of 2:02.64, finishing behind China’s Gukailai Wang (1:59.78) and Japan’s Rui Yoshida (2:01.66). Meanwhile, Kushagra Rawat secured bronze in the 1500m freestyle, clocking 15:30.88. The event was dominated by Vietnam’s Huy Hoang Nguyen, who won gold in 15:15.01, while Uzbekistan’s Ilya Sibirtsev claimed silver with 15:23.35.
With multiple medals and record-breaking performances, India’s swimmers and divers have underlined the country’s growing stature in aquatics, setting the stage for even bigger achievements at the upcoming Asian Games.
