Odisha swimmer secures gold with a new national record

Odisha celebrated a historic sporting achievement on Sunday when swimmer Pratyasa Ray secured a gold medal at the inaugural Short Course Senior National Aquatic Championships. Competing at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Ahmedabad, she delivered a stunning performance in her individual 100m event. Her victory established a new benchmark for competitive Indian swimming. Setting a fresh national record, she completed the intense race in exactly 1:02.21. This remarkable timing successfully erased the previous national best of 1:02.36 previously held by Maana Patel. Gautam Shah Siddhi and Rutuja Prasad Rajadnya rounded out the top three podium positions by claiming the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

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Relay and Butterfly Triumphs

State representatives continued their strong momentum during the competitive women’s 4x100m team relay. The quartet comprising Anshika Aradhana Sahoo, Sonia Patel, Shristi Upadhyay, and Pratyasa Ray earned a silver medal by clocking a collective time of 4:03.50. Karnataka took the top podium spot in this specific category, while the Tamil Nadu squad finished third. Further adding to the state medal tally, Shristi Upadhyaya captured a bronze medal during the women’s 100m butterfly race with a strong finishing time of 1:03.02. Jahnabi Kashyap grabbed the gold medal in that contest, followed closely by Mukherjee Sanithi who safely secured silver. This impressive opening day concluded with one gold, one silver, and one bronze for the regional squad.