Shreyasi Das made Odisha proud by winning the first medal for the host State with a silver in sub-junior girls 100m backstroke at the 40th Sub-junior and 50th Junior National Aquatic Championships, which commenced at the Kalinga Stadium Aquatic Centre in Bhubaneswar today.

Local girl Shreyasi finished second, behind gold medallist Sanvi Buragohain of Assam, clocking 1:19.76. The bronze medal went to Nyra Bopanna Kalengada of Karnataka. As many as three new records were established on the opening day of the six-day championships.

A Standard-IV student of St Josephs High School, Bhubaneswar, Shreyasi trains at the Odisha-JSW Swimming High Performance Centre, Kalinga Stadium, under the guidance of Olympian Sandeep Sejwal. She bagged five gold and two silver medals in the 64th Odisha State Swimming Championship last month in Bhubaneswar.

Karnataka girls (Group II) 4x200m freestyle relay team, Assam boy Janajoy Jyoti Hazarika (100m butterfly, Group I) and Maharashtra girls Saanvi Deshwal (50m breaststroke, Group II) set the three new meet marks of the day.

Karnataka bagged four of 15 gold medals on the opening day, followed by Assam three, Maharashtra two, Manipur two, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Tamil Nadu one each. Odisha is hosting the event for the third consecutive time.

The championships, featuring over 1000 swimmers from across the country, were inaugurated by Odisha Revenue & Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari. Swimming Federation of India Secretary General Monal Chokshi, Odisha State Swimming Association president Pradip Kumar Padhee and State Sports Director Siddhartha Das were present on the occasion.
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PHOTO: Odisha girl Shreyasi Das poses with her silver medal at the 40th Sub-junior National Aquatic Championship in Bhubaneswar on 6 August 2024.