September 10, 2024: Olympian Srihari Nataraj, freestyle expert Aneesh Gowda, and Harshita Jairam will be among the top swimmers participating in the 77th Senior National Swimming Championship starting on Tuesday here. The tournament, which will conclude on September 13, is significant for Indian swimmers as it will feature the ‘A’ qualification marks for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Karnataka is the defending champion of this competition, which will see over 500 swimmers from 31 states participating. Recently, Nataraj, who competed in the 100-meter backstroke event at the Paris Olympics, expressed his intention to deliver his best performance in this event. The national record holder in the 50-meter, 100-meter, and 200-meter backstroke, Nataraj stated, “I am looking forward to my best performance and will try to win gold medals in all my events.” Monal Choksi, General Secretary of the Swimming Federation of India, expressed confidence that Indian swimmers will benefit from international competitions and perform better than last year. On the first day, events will include the 400-meter freestyle, 200-meter breaststroke, Nataraj’s favorite 100-meter backstroke, 50-meter butterfly, and the 4×100 meter medley relay.
