Aryan Nehra Wins 400m Gold, Vritti Agarwal Sets NMR: Day 6 Closes the 79th Senior Nationals in Ahmedabad

Images: SFITV YouTube Channel

Ahmedabad, 21 June 2026 — The 79th Senior National Aquatics Championships came to a close on Sunday at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex, Naranpura, with the final session delivering a National Meet Record, another sub-2 from Rishabh Anupam Das, and a championship-closing gold for Aryan Nehra in the Men’s 400m Freestyle. Karnataka wrapped up the week as the dominant team, their women’s programme in particular defining what Indian swimming’s collective ceiling looks like in 2026.

Vritti Agarwal — Women’s 800m Freestyle NMR: 9:05.47

The day’s record belonged to Telangana’s Vritti Agarwal. She won the Women’s 800m Freestyle gold in 9:05.47 — a new National Meet Record, improving on Richa Mishra’s mark of 9:06.31 set in Ranchi in 2011 by 0.84 seconds. A 15-year-old record, gone. It was a patient, controlled performance from Agarwal, who built her lead steadily and held off Delhi’s Bhavya Sachdeva (9:10.51, silver) and Karnataka’s Sri Charani Tumu (9:17.13, bronze). Maharashtra’s Aditi Satish Hegde — who had set a new Best Indian Time in the Women’s 1500m Freestyle earlier in the week — finished fourth in 9:17.48. Dhinidhi Desinghu, competing across multiple events all week, finished eighth in 9:28.98.

Rishabh Anupam Das — Sub-2 Again in Men’s 200m Backstroke

Maharashtra’s Rishabh Anupam Das clocked 1:59.90 in the Men’s 200m Backstroke final to take gold — his second sub-2 minute swim in the event this year. Das had first broken the two-minute barrier at the Sydney Open in May with 1:59.84, which remains the national record. Sunday’s 1:59.90 did not improve that mark, but it confirmed he is the dominant Indian backstroker in this event by a considerable distance. SSCB’s Utkarsh Santosh Patil was second in 2:01.82, and Karnataka’s Akash Mani third in 2:05.18. Devansh Parmar of RSPB was fourth in 2:05.50, and Tamil Nadu’s Nithik Nathella fifth in 2:05.70.

Aryan Nehra — Men’s 400m Freestyle Gold

Four days after becoming the first Indian to swim the 800m Freestyle under 8 minutes, Aryan Nehra returned to close out his championship in the Men’s 400m Freestyle, winning gold in 3:55.34. Having already written his name into Indian swimming history on Day 5, this was a composed, measured outing — Nehra led from the front and did not need to push limits to win. Karnataka’s Aneesh S Gowda was second in 3:57.41 and Dhakshan S, also of Karnataka, third in 3:57.70. Delhi’s Kushagra Rawat finished fourth in 3:59.70. Gujarat’s hero — and the story of this championship — closed his individual programme with another gold.

Karnataka 1-2 in Women’s 50m Butterfly

The Women’s 50m Butterfly final was Karnataka’s to lose, and they did not. Nina Venkatesh took gold in 27.67 with Tanishi Gupta — who had set two NMRs in the Women’s 200m Backstroke on Day 4 — taking silver in 27.69, just 0.02 seconds behind. Snigdha Ghosh of West Bengal was third in 28.34. Nandini Kedar Pethkar of Maharashtra was fourth in 28.44 and RSPB’s Rujuta Prashad fifth in 28.73.

Danush Suresh — Men’s 50m Breaststroke Gold

Tamil Nadu’s Danush Suresh, who had been a key member of relay units through the week, won the Men’s 50m Breaststroke individual gold in 28.38. Likith Selvaraj Prema of SSCB was second in 28.69 and Karnataka’s Vidith S Shankar third in 28.80. RSPB’s Shwejal Shailesh Mankar finished fourth in 29.35, and Arjun Sambu A of SSCB fifth in 29.41.

Bikram Changmai — Men’s 200m Butterfly Gold

RSPB’s Bikram Changmai, who had taken silver in the Men’s 50m Butterfly on Day 5 behind Benedicton Rohit’s record-breaking performance, stepped up over the longer distance. He won the Men’s 200m Butterfly final in 2:02.50, ahead of Karnataka’s Dharshan S (2:03.00) and Manipur’s Laitonjam Lanchenba (2:04.43). Haryana’s Harsh Saroha finished fourth in 2:04.84 and Karnataka’s Shivank Vishwanath fifth in 2:06.51.

Karnataka Win Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay to Close the Week

Karnataka sealed their team championship with gold in the Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay, finishing in 4:18.72. Odisha claimed a well-earned silver in 4:22.31 — one of the performances of the week from a state not usually among the relay frontrunners. RSPB were third in 4:25.20. Tamil Nadu finished fifth in 4:31.10, Maharashtra sixth in 4:31.92. West Bengal were disqualified.

The Championship in Full

The 79th Senior Nationals produced National Meet Records across all six days of competition. The defining moment was Aryan Nehra’s 7:59.36 in the Men’s 800m Freestyle on Day 5 — the first sub-8 minute swim by any Indian in history. B Benedicton Rohit broke the Men’s 50m Butterfly NMR twice in one day. Dhinidhi Desinghu and Rujula S rewrote sprint and relay benchmarks. Vinayak Vijay set a new 200m IM national record on Day 1. Aditi Satish Hegde erased an 11-year-old record in the Women’s 1500m. And Vritti Agarwal’s 9:05.47 today ended Richa Mishra’s 15-year hold on the Women’s 800m NMR.

Karnataka’s women were the collective story of the week — relay golds, sprint golds, and a depth of performance across distances that no other state came close to matching.

The championships served as a key selection reference for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. The selectors now have their data. The swimmers have made their cases.

The 79th Senior Nationals are over. The pool at Naranpura falls silent. Indian swimming moves on faster than it arrived.

NMR in Today’s Session

🏊 Vritti Agarwal (Telangana) — Women’s 800m Freestyle — 9:05.47 (previous: 9:06.31, Richa Mishra, Ranchi, 2011)

Day 6 Results at a Glance