Indian swimming celebrated a historic milestone at the 79th Senior National Aquatics Championships in Ahmedabad, where Telangana’s Vritti Agarwal delivered the performance of her career by winning the women’s 800m freestyle title in 9:05.47. In the process, she erased one of the country’s longest-standing swimming records, surpassing Richa Mishra’s national mark of 9:06.31, which had stood since 2011.
The victory marked a major breakthrough for the young distance swimmer, who had earlier claimed silver in the 1500m freestyle at the same championships. This time, she produced a perfectly paced race to finally bring down a record that had survived for nearly 15 years.
Vritti’s Record-Breaking Swim
Vritti maintained her rhythm throughout the eight-lap distance and finished strongly to touch the wall in 9:05.47, becoming the new national record holder in the event.
Women’s 800m Freestyle Results
Gold: Vritti Agarwal (Telangana) – 9:05.47 (New National Record)
Silver: Bhavya Sachdeva (Delhi) – 9:10.51
Bronze: Sri Charani Tumu (Karnataka)
The achievement is another significant chapter in Vritti’s rise as one of India’s most promising distance swimmers. Having already set junior national records in previous years, she has now translated that potential onto the senior stage.
More National Records Fall in Ahmedabad
The championships produced several outstanding performances beyond Vritti’s triumph.
Karnataka’s women’s 4x100m medley relay quartet of Nina Venkatesh, S. Lakshya, Tanishi Gupta and Dhinidhi Desinghu clocked 4:18.72, breaking the previous national record of 4:23.65 set in 2023. Odisha also finished below the earlier record, highlighting the rapidly improving standard of women’s relay swimming in the country.
Sprint specialist Nina Venkatesh continued her impressive form by lowering her own national record in the 50m butterfly, finishing in 27.57 seconds. Karnataka teammate Tanishi Gupta also impressed with 27.69 seconds, narrowly missing the national mark.
A Positive Sign for Indian Swimming
The record-breaking performances at the Senior National Aquatics Championships underline the steady progress of Indian swimming. With experienced swimmers and emerging talents consistently pushing national standards higher, the competition has become an important platform ahead of major international events.
For Vritti Agarwal, the historic swim is more than just a national title—it is a statement that she is ready to compete among the country’s elite. Breaking a record that remained untouched for over a decade is a remarkable achievement and a strong indicator of India’s growing strength in distance swimming.
Discussion about this post