Pratyasa Ray once again justified her reputation as the swimming GOAT (Greatest of All Time) of Odisha by bagging five medals, including a hat-trick of individual gold in the 1st Short Course Senior National Aquatic Championship, which concluded at Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Ahmedabad, Gujarat today.
Spearheaded by 24-year-old Pratyasa, Odisha secured the fifth position in the overall medal tally, garnering a total of six medals, including four gold, one silver and one bronze. Incidentally, all six medals were won by five women and all of them trained at Odisha IIS JSW Swimming High Performance Centre (HPC), Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar.
Pratyasa clinched the hat-trick of individual gold by winning the womens 200m backstroke event with a National record on the concluding day of the four-day Short Course National championship. She clocked 2:16.20 to break the previous National record, set by Olympian Manna Patel.
A post graduate in sociology, Pratyasa won her other two individual gold medals earlier in 50m and 100m backstroke, clocking 29.06 seconds and 1:02.21 respectively. She also established a new short course National record in 100m backstroke, eclipsing the previous National record, held by Manna Patel.
Besides the three individual gold medals, Pratyasa won one gold in womens 4×100m medley relay and one silver womens 4×100m freestyle relay to cap her highly successful campaign with a total of five medals.
This is her best ever achievement in a National championship, bettering the previous best haul of four medals (two gold, one silver, one bronze), which she won at the 79th Senior National Aquatic Championship earlier this year in Ahmedabad.
Divyanka Dibyajyoti Pradhan, Shristi Upadhaya and Sonia Patel were the other three swimmers of the Odisha team that captured the gold medal in the womens 4×100m medley relay with a time of 4:22.32 yesterday.
The Odisha team which claimed the silver medal in womens 4x100m freestyle relay, clocking 4:03.50, featured Shristi Upadhaya, Sonia Patel and Anshika Aradhana Sahoo, besides Pratyasa. Shristi, who joined GAF-KISS Swimming Academy, Bhubaneswar a month ago, claimed the lone bronze medal in the womens 100m butterfly, clocking 1:03.02.
It must be admitted that due to the combined support of the IIS JSW Swimming HPC, the Odisha Sports & Youth Services Department (DSYS) and the Odisha State Swimming Association (TOSSA), the State has become a force to reckon with in the domestic swimming circuit of the country, winning more than 25 medals in National Games and National Championships during the last four years.
Over the years, the State Governments have invested crores of rupees to set up a world class infrastructure facility for swimming. HPC technical director Douglas Eagar, senior coach Yurvesh Dubey and head of operations Sachikant Kumar have played important roles in strengthening the preparation and competitive performance of the swimmers.
TOSSA president Pradip Kumar Padhee, secretary Golapmani Mahanta, joint-secretary Lakshmi Chandra Mahakur, treasurer Bijay Kumar Dixit and other office-bearers have done a commendable job in the transparent and accountable governance of the sport. Last but not least, families of the swimmers have rendered yeomen service in providing care, encouragement and funding.
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PHOTO: Odisha swimming icon Pratyasa Ray poses with her five medals at the 1st Short Course Senior National Aquatic Championship in Ahmedabad on 28 October 2026.