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On a high note

Photos: Mohammed Yousuf, K. Ramesh Babu and P.V. Sivakumar

Giving their best shots (From top left anti-clockwise) Rehan Poncha, Aaron D’Souza, Arhata Margavi Puneet Rana and Richa Sharma

Several noteworthy performances were witnessed in the Senior National Aquatic Championships which were held at the G.M.C. Balayogi sports complex swimming pool in Gachibowli recently. Most of the country’s top swimmers except Virdhawal Khade we re in the fray.

One of the swimmers who came up with an outstanding performance was Rehan Poncha of Karnataka. This young man has dominated the national scene for so long that there is not much about him that is unknown to his fans.

His excellent technique and power gave him a big edge over most of his rivals. Interestingly, the 22-year-old swimmer revealed that originally he was not keen to come for the Senior Nationals but was prodded on by his coach to compete.

But having landed up in Hyderabad, he decided to give his best shot and bagged a clutch of medals which fetched him Best Swimmer (men) title.

He said he was delighted to have finished on such a high note. He said the feat would motivate him to pursue higher goals in future. Now he has his eyes set on the 2010 Commonwealth Games to be held in Dehli and the London Olympic Games to be held in 2012.

In the women’s section the Best Swimmer was Richa Mishra of Police. It was her second hat-trick at the senior nationals and she has clearly proved to be the best woman swimmer in the country right now.

Reigning champions Karnataka won the team championship in the men’s and the women’s sections and also the overall title with a total tally of 381 points.

Railways made a clean sweep in diving as its diver Hariprasad registered 269.05 points to bag the gold in the one metre springboard diving. In the water polo event the Railway won the men’s gold while Police won the women’s title.

Among others who excelled were Aaron D’Souza of Karnataka who broke several records, and another Arhatha Magavi, the 14-year-old from Bangalore. “I am thrilled and I never thought I could perform so well in this meet,” said Magavi. For15-year-old Man Kiran Kaur of Punjab, it was a memorable debut in the Senior Nationals. The standard IXstudent of Golden Earth School (Sangrur) put up a surprisingly good show and she later dedicated the feat to her coach Balbir Singh.

Another pleasant surprise came from 25-year-old Puneet Rana of Punjab. He was taking part in his first Senior national meet after a gap of four years because of his work commitments. Puneet clinched the gold in the 50 metre breaststroke with a timing of 29.65 seconds.

“It was a highly satisfying race as I had come straight from Delhi without any regular practice just to take a break from the office,” said an elated Puneet, who won three golds in the 2004 Nationals.

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