Swimmer Aryan Nehra from Gujarat won one gold and three silver medals at the 11th Asian Age Group Aquatic Championships held at New Clark City, Philippines. Nehra (20) was part of the quartet that won the gold in the 4×200 freestyle relay in the 18 & over age category.
Besides Aryan, the India relay team included Srihari Natraj, Sajan Prakash and Anees Gowda. They clocked 7:26:64 minutes to set a new national record for India and finished at the top of the podium.
Nehra finished second in three individual events — 400 metres (m), 800 m and 1500 m freestyle races — to win silver.
“After he won three silvers, I told him that he was swimming well and was also winning medals and that all he needed to do was change the colour of the medal. He and his teammates managed to do that by winning the 4×200 freestyle relay,” said Aryan’s father Vijay Nehra, an IAS officer in the Gujarat-cadre adding, “This performance comes as a big success for Aryan who has earlier represented India twice in the World Championships and at the Asian Games last year but had not managed to win any medals.”
Aryan, the current national champion, holds the national records 400 m, 800 m and 1,500 m freestyle events. He is training and studying at University of Florida in the US. “His next target is to qualify for the Paris Olympics and therefore, he will take part in qualification events over the next few months,” Vijay added.
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