High Five: Sajan Takes His Fifth Gold, Seven Indian Bests Fall and Karnataka Finish on Top as India’s First Short Course Nationals Close

Sajan Prakash won his fifth gold, Rishabh Anupam Das and Pratyasa Ray completed backstroke sweeps, and Karnataka edged Maharashtra on silvers as 25 of 38 champions went under the listed Indian short-course bests in Ahmedabad.

Ahmedabad | 28 October 2026

Eight finals. Seven winning times inside the listed Indian short-course bests. A fifth gold for Sajan Prakash, backstroke sweeps for Rishabh Anupam Das and Pratyasa Ray, and a medal table decided on silvers. India’s first short-course senior nationals ended the way they began: fast. On the final night of the 1st Short Course Senior National Aquatic Championships, seven of the eight winners went under the listed Indian best in their event. Across four days, 25 of the 42 champions did. Karnataka finished as the top team. They ended level with Maharashtra on eight golds, but ahead on silvers, 13 to 8, and on medals, 33 to 19. Charita Phanindranath’s win in the Women’s 50m Freestyle brought their eighth title. A short-course pool is 25 metres long, so races carry twice the turns of a 50m pool. Short-course times are kept separately and cannot be compared with long-course national records.

Sajan Prakash Signs Off With a Fifth

Sajan Prakash, racing for Police, won the Men’s 400m Freestyle in 3:48.39, 2.16 seconds ahead of Delhi’s Kushagra Rawat (3:50.55). The time was 0.65 inside the listed Indian best of 3:49.04, which Kushagra himself set in the heats of the 2021 Short Course World Championships in Abu Dhabi. Karnataka’s Sharan S took bronze in 3:53.23, his third medal of the meet behind Kushagra after silvers in the 1500m and 800m. SSCB’s Gotteti Sampath Kumar Yadav and Madhya Pradesh’s Anvesh Singh tied for fifth in 4:07.74. It was Sajan’s fifth gold of the championships, after the 200m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 50m butterfly and 200m butterfly. No swimmer won more individual titles.

Rishabh Anupam Das: The Biggest Margin of the Meet

Maharashtra’s Rishabh Anupam Das won the Men’s 200m Backstroke in 1:52.37, the only man in the final under two minutes, and 9.23 seconds clear of Karnataka’s Samarth Gowda B S (2:01.60). Karnataka’s Aryan Abhijit Patil took bronze in 2:02.98. Rishabh’s time was 7.32 seconds inside Srihari Nataraj’s listed Indian best of 1:59.69 from the 2019 South Asian Games, the largest improvement on any listed mark across the four days. It completed a backstroke sweep for Rishabh, after the 100m on Sunday and the 50m on Monday. With Maharashtra’s 4x100m freestyle relay, he finished with four golds, and a silver in the 100m freestyle.

Pratyasa Ray Sweeps the Women’s Backstroke

Odisha’s Pratyasa Ray matched Rishabh with a sweep of her own. She won the Women’s 200m Backstroke in 2:16.20, 6.63 seconds ahead of Maharashtra’s Tvisha Nikhil Dixit (2:22.83), with Telangana’s Annika Deborah Paripooranam Ananth third in 2:24.99. Pratyasa’s time was 1.24 inside Maana Patel’s listed Indian best of 2:17.44, set at the 2018 World Cup in Singapore. She also won the 100m backstroke on Sunday, under Maana’s listed mark, and the 50m on Monday. With Odisha’s 4x100m medley relay on Tuesday, she finished with four golds, and a relay silver.

Vritti Agarwal Completes Her Set

Telangana’s Vritti Agarwal won the Women’s 400m Freestyle in 4:23.55, 0.64 inside the listed Indian best of 4:24.19, set by Malavika Vishwanath at the 2014 World Championships in Doha. Karnataka’s Ashmitha Chandra was second again, as she had been in Tuesday’s 800m, in 4:25.20. Bengal’s Sanithi Mukherjee took bronze in 4:25.92, 0.48 ahead of Karnataka’s Shirin (4:26.40). Karnataka placed five swimmers in the top eight. Vritti finished with four golds, in the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle and the 200m butterfly, and a silver in the 200m freestyle. Three of her wins came inside listed Indian bests; the 1500m has no listed short-course mark.

Tvisha Dixit Completes the Medley Double

Two events after her backstroke silver, Tvisha Nikhil Dixit won the Women’s 200m Individual Medley in 2:21.45, 1.66 seconds ahead of Karnataka’s Shirin (2:23.11). Both went under Richa Mishra’s listed Indian best of 2:24.70 from the 2019 South Asian Games, Tvisha by 3.25 seconds. Tamil Nadu’s Shreenithi Natesan took bronze in 2:25.14, her third individual medal of the meet. Tvisha, who won the 400m individual medley on Monday, finished with both of the long medley titles.

Vinayak Vijay Doubles Up, Again Ahead of Siva Sridhar

The Men’s 200m Individual Medley produced the same top two as Tuesday’s 100m. SSCB’s Vinayak Vijay won in 2:01.42, 2.10 seconds ahead of Tamil Nadu’s Siva Sridhar (2:03.52), with Karnataka’s Shivank Vishwanath third in 2:05.70. This was one listed best that held: Siva’s own 1:59.80 from the 2022 World Championships in Melbourne, 1.62 seconds faster than Vinayak’s winning time. Vinayak finished with both medley golds and two backstroke silvers.

Charita Phanindranath Seals It for Karnataka

The Women’s 50m Freestyle podium repeated Tuesday’s 100m in the same order. Charita Phanindranath won in 25.57, 1.01 seconds clear of Assam’s Jahnabi Kashyap (26.58), with Railways’ Shivangi Sarma third in 26.71. Charita’s time was 0.54 inside the listed Indian best of 26.11, set by Shivangi at the Speedo Invitational in Dubai last December. Charita finished with five golds: the 50m butterfly, the 100m and 50m freestyle, and two relays, the women’s 4x100m freestyle and the mixed 4x50m freestyle. She also won silver in the women’s 4x100m medley relay. Jahnabi, who won the 200m freestyle and 100m butterfly on Sunday, finished second to Charita three times.

Tanish George Mathew Goes Under 22

Kerala’s Tanish George Mathew won the Men’s 50m Freestyle in 21.80, the only swimmer under 22 seconds. Maharashtra’s Mihir Ambre took silver in 22.05, and both went under Virdhawal Khade’s listed Indian best of 22.22 from the 2019 South Asian Games, Tanish by 0.42. Delhi’s Vishal Grewal took bronze in 22.58, his fourth medal of the meet. Tanish added the sprint title to Tuesday’s 100m freestyle and Monday’s 50m butterfly silver.

Record Watch: Seven of Eight

Seven of the eight Day 4 winners went faster than the listed Indian short-course best in their event. The SFI result sheets carry no record annotations, and ratification of the first short-course national marks is awaited.

Event	Winner	Time	Previous listed Indian best	Faster by
Men 200m Backstroke	Rishabh Anupam Das (MAH)	1:52.37	1:59.69 — Srihari Nataraj, 2019	7.32
Women 200m IM	Tvisha Nikhil Dixit (MAH)	2:21.45	2:24.70 — Richa Mishra, 2019	3.25
Women 200m Backstroke	Pratyasa Ray (ODI)	2:16.20	2:17.44 — Maana Patel, 2018	1.24
Men 400m Freestyle	Sajan Prakash (Police)	3:48.39	3:49.04 — Kushagra Rawat, 2021	0.65
Women 400m Freestyle	Vritti Agarwal (TEL)	4:23.55	4:24.19 — Malavika Vishwanath, 2014	0.64
Women 50m Freestyle	Charita Phanindranath (KAR)	25.57	26.11 — Shivangi Sarma, 2025	0.54
Men 50m Freestyle	Tanish George Mathew (KER)	21.80	22.22 — Virdhawal Khade, 2019	0.42

Two runners-up also went under the old marks: Mihir Ambre (22.05) and Shirin (2:23.11).

The Championships in Numbers

Across four days and 42 finals, 25 winners went under the listed Indian short-course best in their event, and one, Mittapalli Rithvika in the 50m breaststroke, equalled it. None of the relay winners went under a listed mark, and three events, the women’s 1500m freestyle and the two mixed 4x50m relays, had no listed mark at all. In the six relays, Karnataka won the women’s 4x100m freestyle and the mixed 4x50m freestyle, Maharashtra the men’s 4x100m freestyle and medley, Odisha the women’s 4x100m medley, and Railways the mixed 4x50m medley. The swimmers who defined the meet:

• Sajan Prakash (Police): five golds, in the 200m and 400m freestyle and the 50m, 100m and 200m butterfly.
• Rishabh Anupam Das (Maharashtra): four golds, including the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke, and a silver.
• Vritti Agarwal (Telangana): four golds, in the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle and the 200m butterfly, and a silver.
• Charita Phanindranath (Karnataka): five golds, three individual and two relay, and a relay silver.
• Pratyasa Ray (Odisha): a clean sweep of the women’s backstroke, and a relay gold.
• Kushagra Rawat (Delhi): the 800m and 1500m freestyle, and silver in the 400m.
• Tanish George Mathew (Kerala), Vinayak Vijay (SSCB) and Tvisha Nikhil Dixit (Maharashtra): two golds each.

Day 4 Results at a Glance

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Men 400m Freestyle	Sajan Prakash (Police) 3:48.39	Kushagra Rawat (DEL) 3:50.55	Sharan S (KAR) 3:53.23
Women 400m Freestyle	Vritti Agarwal (TEL) 4:23.55	Ashmitha Chandra (KAR) 4:25.20	Sanithi Mukherjee (BEN) 4:25.92
Men 200m Backstroke	Rishabh Anupam Das (MAH) 1:52.37	Samarth Gowda B S (KAR) 2:01.60	Aryan Abhijit Patil (KAR) 2:02.98
Women 200m Backstroke	Pratyasa Ray (ODI) 2:16.20	Tvisha Nikhil Dixit (MAH) 2:22.83	Annika Deborah Paripooranam Ananth (TEL) 2:24.99
Men 200m IM	Vinayak Vijay (SSCB) 2:01.42	Siva Sridhar (TN) 2:03.52	Shivank Vishwanath (KAR) 2:05.70
Women 200m IM	Tvisha Nikhil Dixit (MAH) 2:21.45	Shirin (KAR) 2:23.11	Shreenithi Natesan (TN) 2:25.14
Men 50m Freestyle	Tanish George Mathew (KER) 21.80	Mihir Ambre (MAH) 22.05	Vishal Grewal (DEL) 22.58
Women 50m Freestyle	Charita Phanindranath (KAR) 25.57	Jahnabi Kashyap (ASM) 26.58	Shivangi Sarma (RSPB) 26.71

Final Medal Table

Team	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Karnataka	8	13	12	33
Maharashtra	8	8	3	19
Telangana	5	1	5	11
Police	5	0	0	5
Odisha	4	1	1	6
Delhi	3	1	3	7
SSCB	2	3	2	7
Assam	2	3	0	5
Kerala	2	1	0	3
RSPB	1	5	6	12
Andhra Pradesh	1	1	1	3
Madhya Pradesh	1	0	0	1
Tamil Nadu	0	3	6	9
Bengal	0	2	2	4
Gujarat	0	0	1	1

Based on all 42 finals in the official SFI result sheets, including the relay results issued separately.

What Ahmedabad Leaves Behind

For years, India’s short-course bests were set almost entirely abroad, at South Asian Games, World Cups and World Championships. In four days in Ahmedabad, 25 of them were bettered in a national final. Once the marks are ratified, the country’s first short-course record book will have been largely written here. The harder question for the Swimming Federation of India is whether this was a one-off, or the start of a regular season over 25 metres. — SwimmingDrive Bureau