A 24-member Odisha State squad, featuring 13 men and 11 women left Bhubaneswar by air today to participate in the 1st SFI National Ranking Swimming Championship, scheduled to be held at Gachibowli Swimming Pool in Hyderabad from 20 to 23 December 2022.

The 24 swimmers were selected on the basis of their performance in the recently held Zonal Ranking Championship, which was held at Biju Patnaik Swimming Pool, Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar on 10 and 11 December 2022. Swimmers from five states had competed in the Zonal Championship.

The travel arrangements for the Odisha squad have been made by the Department of Sports and Youth Services (DSYS), Government of Odisha. Odisha State Swimming Association President, Pradip Kumar Padhee expressed sincere thanks and gratitude to the government for the total support to the swimmers and the sport of swimming.

The championship will be conducted by Swimming Federation of India (SFI), under the FINA OASP 2022 Programme and supported by the Government of Odisha. Cash awards would be given to top eight finishers in each event. Winners would get Rs 8,000 each while the eighth-place finishers would be given Rs 1,000.

ODISHA SQUAD:

WOMEN: 1. Pratyasha Ray, 2. Mannata Mishra, 3. Vadra Satpathy, 4. Addyasha Mishra, 5. Divyanka Dibyajyoti Pradhan, 6. Aakankshya Nayak, 7. Sonia Patel, 8. Arpita Sahu, 9. Punyatoya Behera, 10. Nandini Dalabehera, 11. Sunita Sahu.

MEN: 1. Bikash Haripal, 2. Jadu Budek, 3. Nabin Sharma, 4. Nitesh Seth, 5. Amiya Kumar Pradhan, 6. Yajat Gupta, 7. Piyush Thakur, 8. Anmol Mohanty, 9. Ganesh Naik, 10. Sunil Kumar Behera, 11. Ayush Aryaman Badu, 12. Subrata Dalabehera, 13. Anshuman Vashist.

TEAM STAFF: Raju Pradhan (Manager), Sandeep Sejwal (Coach), Sunita Bohidar (Lady manager).
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PHOTO: Members of the Odisha State swimming squad pose at the Bhubaneswar Airport before leaving for Hyderabad on 19 December 2022.