National aquatics: Vritti breaks 800m freestyle record

Vritti Agarwal clocked 9:05.47 to smash Richa Mishra’s 15-year-old women’s 800m freestyle record and win the gold medal on the concluding day of the National aquatics championships in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

Telangana swimmer Vritti’s record breaking performance helped her register the ‘best Indian time’ as well.

Rishabh Das went below two minutes (1:59.90) to better his own mark and win the men’s 200m backstroke with another ‘best Indian time.’ Rishabh and second-placed Utkarsh Patil (2:01.82) qualified for the Asian Games.

Nina Venkatesh clocked 27.67 to win the women’s 50m butterfly title. It was also the best time logged by an Indian in this category.

Aryan, who claimed three gold and a bronze and set two new records, and Saanvi Deshwal, who bagged three gold and a silver and rewrote one record, were chosen as the best swimmers. Karnataka won the men’s and women’s team championships.

The results (winners only): Men: 400m freestyle: Aryan Nehra (Guj) 3:55.34; 200m backstroke: Rishabh Das (Mah) 1:59.90 (NMR, Old 2:00.65, Rishabh Das, 2025); 50m breaststroke: Danush Suresh (TN) 28.38; 200m butterfly: Bikram Changmai (RSPB) 2:02.50.

Women: 800m freestyle: Vritti Agarwal (Tel) 9:05.47 (NMR, Old 9:06.31, Richa Mishra, 2011); 50m butterfly: Nina Venkatesh (Kar) 27.67 (NMR, Old 27.74, Nina Venkatesh, 2023); 4x100m medley relay: Karnataka (Nina Venkatesh, S. Lakshya, Tanishi Gupta, Dhinidhi Desinghu) 4:18.72 (NMR, Old 4:23.65, Maharashtra, 2023).