Aryan Nehra Goes Sub-8, Rohit Breaks His Record Twice: Five NMRs on Day 5 of the 79th Senior Nationals

Ahmedabad, 20 June 2026 — Day 5 of the 79th Senior National Aquatics Championships was defined by two themes: records in the sprint lanes and Karnataka dominating the relay pool. Five National Meet Records fell across the session — Rujula S reclaimed the Women’s 50m Freestyle NMR she herself set last year, B Benedicton Rohit broke his own 50m Butterfly record in the morning heats, and Karnataka swept both freestyle relay NMRs in the evening. Meanwhile, Saanvi Deshwal and Bikram Changmai wrote the day’s best individual stories in the finals.

Rujula S — Women’s 50m Freestyle NMR: 26.23

Rujula S of Karnataka clocked 26.23 in the Women’s 50m Freestyle final to set a new National Meet Record — breaking her own mark of 26.36 set at Bhubaneswar last year by 0.13 seconds. Charita Phanindranath, also of Karnataka, took silver at 26.53, making it a Karnataka 1-2. Janhvi Choudhary of West Bengal was third at 26.57. The CWG Glasgow 2026 qualification standard for this event is 25.25 — Rujula’s 26.23 is outside it, but this is a new national benchmark and the fastest time any Indian woman has swum over 50 metres. Nina Venkatesh swam 26.90 in the heats as an exhibition entry — also outside the qualifying mark.

B Benedicton Rohit — Two NMRs in One Day, But Loses the Final

The most dramatic story of Day 5 unfolded in the Men’s 50m Butterfly. B Benedicton Rohit of Tamil Nadu broke his own national record in the morning heats, clocking 23.79 — erasing his previous NMR of 24.11 set at Bhubaneswar last year by 0.32 seconds. It was a stunning improvement. Then in the final, Rohit went even faster: 23.63 — a second NMR in the same event on the same day, winning gold by a massive margin. Bikram Changmai of RSPB was second at 24.47 and Jananjoy Jyoti Hazarika of Assam third at 24.64. The gap between Rohit and second place was 0.84 seconds — in a 50m sprint, that is dominance. The national record of 23.63 replaces the 23.79 he set in the heats just hours earlier. The CWG QT for Men’s 50m Butterfly is 23.42 — Rohit’s 23.79 falls 0.37 seconds short.

Saanvi Deshwal — Women’s 200m Breaststroke Gold

Saanvi Deshwal of Maharashtra continued her extraordinary championship run, winning the Women’s 200m Breaststroke gold in 2:37.81 — her fifth individual medal of the meet. The national record of 2:37.35 by Lineysha AK was not broken — Saanvi was 0.46 seconds outside it — but the win was comprehensive. Thanya Shadakshari of Karnataka, who broke the 400m Medley NMR on Day 4, was second at 2:38.97. Mannata Mishra of Odisha took bronze at 2:40.64. The number of individual podium finishes Saanvi Deshwal has accumulated at this championship — five in five events across five days — is a performance that deserves its own story.

Manikanta L — Men’s 200m Breaststroke Gold

Manikanta L of Karnataka won the Men’s 200m Breaststroke in 2:19.45, ahead of Kunj Harshul Desai of Gujarat at 2:21.26 and Karnataka’s Surya Jhoyappa O R at 2:22.31. The national record of 2:15.22, set by Sandeep Sejwal in 2013, remains the oldest NMR in the programme and was not challenged.

Karnataka Break the Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay NMR

The Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay final produced the evening’s most significant team performance. Karnataka clocked 3:24.15 to break Tamil Nadu’s national record of 3:26.26 set at Bhubaneswar last year — an improvement of 2.11 seconds. Tamil Nadu were second at 3:25.76, Maharashtra third at 3:27.82, and SSCB fourth at 3:27.85. Karnataka’s four legs: Akash Mani, Monish P V, Chinthan S Shetty, Aneesh S Gowda.

Karnataka Break Their Own Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay NMR

Karnataka closed Day 5 with a second relay NMR, clocking 8:42.48 in the Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay — breaking their own national record of 8:52.32 set at Bhubaneswar last year by 9.84 seconds. Maharashtra were second at 8:55.28, Tamil Nadu third at 8:57.20. Karnataka’s four legs: Sri Charani Tumu, Shirin, Suhasini Ghosh, Dhinidhi Desinghu. Delhi did not start.

A Note on Asian Games Qualification

There has been some discussion around whether Aryan Nehra’s 1500m Freestyle NMR of 15:14.88 on Day 3 also qualifies him for the Asian Games 2026 in Nagoya (19 September – 4 October 2026). SwimmingDrive has checked this against the official SFI Asian Games 2026 Qualification System document, which sets the QT as the 6th place time at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. That 6th place time was 15:14.27 by Ikki Imoto of Japan. Aryan Nehra’s 15:14.88 is 0.61 seconds outside that standard. He has qualified for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow — but as of this championship, the Asian Games 1500m standard remains beyond his reach by the narrowest of margins.

Aryan Nehra — Sub-8 Minutes in the Men’s 800m Freestyle

The performance of Day 5 that may define this entire championship came in the Men’s 800m Freestyle. Aryan Nehra of Gujarat clocked 7:59.36 — becoming the first Indian swimmer to break the eight-minute barrier in this event. His previous national record of 8:01.81, set at Hyderabad in July 2023, had stood for three years. He has now broken it by 2.45 seconds. On Day 3 of this same championship, Nehra broke the 1500m NMR by nearly 15 seconds. Now this. He is the story of the 79th Senior Nationals. Dharshan S of Karnataka was a distant second at 8:09.79 and Kushagra Rawat of Delhi third at 8:10.97.

Day 5 Results at a Glance

Medal Tally — Days 1 to 5 (pending 800m Free relay swimmer confirmation)

What to Watch on the Final Day

Day 6 — 21 June — closes the 79th Senior National Aquatics Championships. The closing day will bring the Men’s and Women’s 50m Backstroke and 50m Breaststroke, along with the 200m Freestyle events and remaining relays. Srihari Nataraj, who set the 50m Backstroke NMR on Day 2 and confirmed his CWG Glasgow qualification, will likely feature in the 100m Backstroke. Dhinidhi Desinghu, the standout swimmer of the championship, will look to close her meet with another performance. The question heading into the final day is simple: how many more records fall before Ahmedabad is done?