The Hindu : Sport / Swimming : Sreejith hogs the limelight

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 23, 2006

Sport

Sport - Swimming

Sreejith hogs the limelight

Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: K.C. Sreejith of SN College, Chempazanthy, was the cynosure of all eyes as he came up with a fine double record-breaking effort in a haul of three individual gold medals on the opening day of the Kerala University inter-collegiate aquatics meet at the Nanniyode Swimming Pool near here on Sunday.

The Chempazanthy collegian initially erased the existing meet mark in the men's 400 metres individual medley before he set a new record during an effortless win in the 200m butterfly final. Later, Sreejith also won the 200m freestyle before he anchored his college side to a new record in the 4x200m freestyle relay.

The heroics of Sreejith apart, the day also witnessed M. Sreeju of MG College lower the existing mark in the 200m breaststroke, bettering the old record which had stood for 23 years.

In the women's section, two records were established and both these were accounted by swimmers from MG College, as B. Praveena and Saranya S. Nair were easy winners in the 200m freestyle and 800m freestyle respectively.

At the end of day one, MG College led the table in both the men's and women's sections with a tally of 33 and 47 points respectively.

The results: All finals:

Men: 200m freestyle: 1. K.C. Sreejith (SNC, 2:13.07 seconds), 2. H. Harjith (SNC), 3. S. A. Adith (Iqbal). 400m freestyle: 1. S. Vishnu (MGC. 4:46.55 secs), 2. H. Harjith (SNC), 3. Arun Krishnan (MGC). 200m backstroke: 1. Sibin Joseph (SNC, 2:34.63 secs), 2. S. Aneesh (MGC), 3. M.J. Nithin (SNC). 200m breaststroke: 1. M. Sreeju (MGC, 2:46.49— NMR; OR— 2:51.00 secs, Sreekumaran Nair, 1983), 2. A. Anshad (SNC), 3. P.S. Ravi (University College). 200m butterfly: 1. K.C. Sreejith (SNC, 2:18.93 secs— NMR; OR— 2:20.28 secs, K. Rajeev, 2003), 2. K. Rajesh Kumar (MGC), 3. S. Vishnu (MGC). 400m individual medley: 1. K. C. Sreejith (SNC, 5:21.06 secs— NMR; OR— 5:23.87 secs, C. Abhilash, 2005), 2. S. Vishnu (MGC), 3. H. Harjith (SNC). 4x100m medley relay: 1. SN College (4:37.03 secs), 2. MG College, 3. Iqbal College. 4x200m freestyle relay: 1. SN College (9:31.15 secs— NR; OR— 9.33.92 secs, SNC, 2002), 2. MG College, 3. Iqbal College.

Women: 200m freestyle: 1. B. Praveena (MGC, 2:24.72 secs— NMR; OR— 2:31.88 secs, self, 2005), 2. A.R. Rohini (SNC), 3. Saranya S. Nair (MGC). 800m freestyle: 1. Saranya S. Nair (MGC, 10:54.01 secs— NMR; OR— 10:56.38 secs, O. Chandralekha, 1992), 2. A.R. Rohini (SNC), 3. A. Anuja (MGC). 200m backstroke: 1. S. Nisha (SNC, 2:56.32 secs), 2. S.R. Rajitha (SNC), 3. Saranya S. Nair (MGC). 200m breaststroke: 1. B.R. Neenu (SNC, 3:19.20 secs), 2. Veena Venu (MGC), 3. A. Anuja (MGC). 200m butterfly: 1. B. Praveena (MGC, 2:54.33 secs), 2. S. Beena (SNC), 3. P. Aswathy (SNC). 400m individual medley: 1. B. Praveena (MGC, 6:29.04 secs), 2. Saranya S. Nair (MGC), 3. S. Beena (SNC). 4x100m medley relay: 1. SN College (5:34.63 secs), 2. MG College. 4x200m freestyle relay: 1. MG College (11:08.24 secs), 2. SN College.