Indian swimmer Srihari Nataraj qualified for the men’s 50m backstroke final at the Asian Games 2026 after finishing joint-ninth overall in the heats with a time of 25.37 seconds here on Monday.
Another Indian, Rishabh Das, clocked 25.41 seconds to finish 10th and missed out on the final. He has been named the first reserve.
In the men’s 50m freestyle, India’s Akash Mani and Heer Gitesh Shah failed to qualify for the final after finishing 26th and 28th, respectively. Akash clocked 23.43 seconds, while Shah finished in 23.57 seconds.
In the men’s 100m breaststroke heats, Danush Suresh finished 22nd overall in 1:03.46 and failed to advance to the final.
India’s men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team of Dhakshan Shashikumar, Sajan Prakash, Aneesh Sunil and Vedaant Mahadevan also missed out on the final and was placed as the first reserve.
India is represented in 14 individual events as well as the men’s 4x100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle and 4x100m medley relays at the Asian Games.
Srihari and Sajan are among the most experienced swimmers in the Indian squad. Srihari represented India at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics, while Sajan competed at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo Olympics.
India have not fielded any women swimmers at the Asian Games 2026, as was also the case at the Commonwealth Games.
India will be seeking to end a 12-year wait for an Asian Games swimming medal in Japan. Sandeep Sejwal was the last Indian swimmer to win a continental medal, claiming bronze in the 50m breaststroke at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.
Indian swimmers returned without a medal from the Hangzhou 2023 Asian Games despite setting six national records.
(IANS Inputs)
