Commonwealth Games 2022: Srihari Nataraj becomes 4th Indian swimmer ever to qualify for finals
New Delhi: Indian swimmer Srihari Nataraj is through to the finals of Men’s 100 m Backstroke in the Birmingham games. He clocked 54:55 seconds in the semi-finals and was ranked 4th in Heat 2 and 7th overall. With an amazing time of under 55 seconds, Nataraj has become only the fourth Indian to qualify for the finals in swimming in Commonwealth Games.
#Swimming Update @srihari3529 qualifies for the FINAL!!
Srihari finishes 4th in Semifinal 2 of Men’s 100m backstroke and 7th overall with a timing of 54.55s at @birminghamcg22
The Final is scheduled for 31st July 1:35 AM IST
Our best wishes ?#Cheer4India#IndiaTaiyaarHai pic.twitter.com/TuqXd3QD8Q
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) July 29, 2022
In the 2018 Commonwealth games, in the semis, he clocked 56.65 seconds to take the 13th spot. This time he did better and made it through. Last time, the bronze medal winner Markus Thormeyer clocked 54.14 seconds and Nataraj holds a personal best of 53.77 seconds which came last year in Italy. Earlier in the day, Nataraj clocked 54.68 seconds in the qualifiers, and his constant effort of under 55 seconds makes him a strong contestant in the finals.
On the other hand, last time’s gold medal winner Mitchell Larkin clocked 54.26 seconds to finish 6th in the semis while the silver medallist Bradley Woodward timed 54.02 seconds to finish 4th. The semi-finals were topped by South Africa’s Pieter Coetze who covered the distance in 53.67 seconds.
India’s star swimmer, Sajan Prakash, who was competing in the Men’s 50 m Butterfly did not advance to the semi-finals as he ranked 24th in the heats with a timing of 25.01 seconds. Another Indian swimmer competing at the CWG was Kushagra Rawat. He clocked 3:57.45 in the Men’s 400 m Freestyle, but could not qualify for the finals.
Apart from the Men’s 100 m Backstroke finals, Srihari Nataraj will also be seen in action in the 50 m and 200 m backstroke. He will play the finals on July 31 at 1:35 am.