Among other Odisha swimmers, Mahika Mahakur bagged three second positions, Nayantara Karthikeyan one second and third position each, Aliva Samal and Prachi Varadwaj Padhi one third position each.

The Phase-1 of the Khelo India Junior Women Swimming Series were held simultaneously across five zones. Competition in other four zones took place in New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Kolkata.

This is the first-time ever that a zonal swimming competition was organized for the junior (U-18) and youth (U-15) categories for girls. Around 850 swimmers participated in multiple events such as 100m and 200m in freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and individual medley.

The Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, under the Khelo India scheme, sanctioned a total amount of Rs 1.02 crore to the Swimming Federation of India (SFI) for the conduct of this Series across a total of two phases. Out of the total money sanctioned, Rs 36 lakh was earmarked as prize money to the top five in every event across all the zones.

LIST OF ODISHA SWIMMERS BAGGING TOP-THREE POSITIONS:

First Position: Vadra Satpathy (U-18 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m freestyle), Akankshya Nayak (U-18 100m backstroke), Daspreet Kaur Sodhi (U-18 200m backstroke)

Second Position: Mahika Mahakur (U-18 200m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke), Akankshya Nayak (U-18 200m breaststroke), Vadra Satpathy (U-18 200m individual medley), Nayantara Karthikeyan (U-15 200m backstroke).

Third Position: Nayantara Kartikeyan (U-15 100m backstroke), Aliva Samal (U-18 100m butterfly), Daspreet Kaur Sodhi (U-18 100m breaststroke), Prachi Varadwaj Padhi (U-15 200m backstroke).
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PHOTOS: Successful Odisha competitors at the Khelo India Junior Women Swimming Series in Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh on 20 and 21 August 2022.