September Update – Aquatics

Our “Targeting Rio 2016” program had its first major test last month at the FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia. Ten swimmers participated and returned with great experience, two personal best times, and a combined eight new national records!

Representing Nepal, Sofia Shah and Sirish Gurung broke three national records. Sofia, with a drop of over eight seconds this year in the 200 freestyle, finished the 200 freestyle in 2’18’’93, and the 50 freestyle on 29’43. Sirish broke the national record in the 100 freestyle -58’’22’’’and was only a few tenths off the 50 -27’’45’’’-. Sofia performed her best time in the 100 freestyle as well in the split of her 200 race.

Cheran DaSilva and Kimiko Raheem both broke two Sri Lankan national records in the 4×100 free and 4×100 I.M. relays. Kimiko also broke the individual record in the 200 backstroke with a phenomenal time of 2’21’’18’.

Sajan Prakash broke the national record of India in the 1500 freestyle, qualifying for the Olympics with a “B” cut, and lowering his personal best to 15’45’’29. He also swam the 200 butterfly in 2’01’’63’’’. His teammate Shivany Singh swan the 50 and the 100 freestyle, very close to her personal best times, performing 27’’65’’’ and 58’’76’’’.

Sajina Shahidh from the Maldives broke the record in the 200 breastroke, lowering the former time by over two seconds and leaving it in 3’16’’50’’’.

Sagor Mahfizur, representing Bangladesh, was .01 seconds away from the national record –yes, you read correctly, only one one hundredth of a second- with a time of 52’’89 in the 100 freestyle, and swam a time of 24’43’’ in the 50 freestyle.

Rwanda’s Eroi Maniraguha swam a personal best in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2’20’’68’’’ and Saju Shahid was a mere .3 seconds away from the national record in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2’28’’75’’’.

All in all, a great debut from a program that started on the 1st of May and is already reaping recognition and rewards from the swimming world.

We also hosted the British Junior National Swimming team here in preparation for the FINA Junior World Championships in Singapore. Our guests and members were exposed to their world-class abilities and training methods. The group of 12 features some of the best young girls and boys between the ages of 16-18. Some of these kids will be the strongest swimmers in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and we got to see what they can do before they become stars.

Tim Jones, head of performance pathway for British Swimming, said: “Going into a competition in Singapore, Thanyapura is perfectly placed to train before the games. It is a very secure and relaxed environment with high quality training facilities and food, and a great place to catch a breath for a few days before we move onto the hustle and bustle of Singapore.

“They are a great group of talented young swimmers and every one of them is going to have the chance to go to the Olympic trials next year, and push for a place on the Rio Olympic team. There are seven or eight of the swimmers who were medalists at the European Games earlier this year and one lad, Luke Greenbank, of Cumbria, set a new junior world record.”