Dhinidhi, Aryan Nehra and Tamil Nadu: Three More NMRs on Day 3 of the 79th Senior Nationals

Ahmedabad, 18 June 2026 — Day 3 of the 79th Senior National Aquatics Championships delivered three more National Meet Records and cemented the story of this championship: Indian swimming is in the middle of a generational surge. After missing out on her record yesterday, Dhinidhi Desinghu broke her own 100m Freestyle national record. Aryan Nehra rewrote the Men’s 1500m Freestyle NMR by a jaw-dropping15 seconds. Tamil Nadu broke the Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay record. And Aditi Satish Hegde, the 15-year-old who set the 1500m NMR on Day 1, added another podium finish — this time in the Women’s 400m Freestyle.

Dhinidhi Desinghu — 56.57 and the 100m Freestyle NMR Falls Again

It was an exciting race of Day 3 and Dhinidhi Desinghu scored. The Karnataka swimmer, who holds her own national record in this event, clocked 56.57 in the Women’s 100m Freestyle final — breaking her previous NMR of 56.78 set at Bhubaneswar last year by 0.21 seconds. This is her third individual performance of the meet, having won the 200m Freestyle on Day 2 and contributed a 57.51 relay split on Day 1. Jahnabi Kashyap of Assam was second in 57.64, and Rujula S of Karnataka took bronze in 57.98. A dead heat for 6th place — Titiksha Rawat (Delhi) and Shreenithi Natesan (Tamil Nadu) both clocked exactly 59.80.

Shoan Ganguly — 4:24.80, 0.16 Short of His Own NMR

If Day 3 had a near-miss, it was Shoan Ganguly in the Men’s 400m Individual Medley. The Karnataka swimmer won in 4:24.80 — just 0.16 seconds outside his own national record of 4:24.64 set at Bhubaneswar last year. After losing his 200m IM national record to Vinayak Vijay on Day 1, Ganguly was clearly motivated here and produced his best swim of the meet. Advait Page of Madhya Pradesh was an excellent second at 4:26.36, while Karnataka’s Shivank Vishwanath took bronze at 4:35.96.

Aryan Nehra — Men’s 1500m Freestyle NMR by 14.88 Seconds

The headline performance of the day that may have been underreported: Aryan Nehra of Gujarat broke his own Men’s 1500m Freestyle national record in spectacular fashion. His time of 15:14.88 improves on the previous NMR of 15:29.76 — set by himself at Hyderabad in July 2023 — by nearly 15 seconds. That is not a marginal improvement; it is a statement swim. And there is a bigger dimension to it: the Commonwealth Games Glasgow 2026 qualification standard for the Men’s 1500m Freestyle is 15:25.48. Aryan Nehra’s 15:14.88 beats that standard by 10.60 seconds. SwimmingDrive can confirm: with this swim, Aryan Nehra has booked his ticket to Glasgow. Dharshan S of Karnataka was second at 15:38.00 and Kushagra Rawat of Delhi third at 15:41.66.

Pratyasa Ray — Women’s 200m Backstroke Gold

The Women’s 200m Backstroke was Pratyasa Ray’s to claim. The Odisha swimmer clocked 2:20.22 to take gold, well inside the 2:18.90 NMR pace but a clean, composed win. Naisha of Karnataka was second at 2:21.64 and Jiya Yadav of Uttar Pradesh third at 2:22.26. National record holder Palak Ashutosh Joshi of Maharashtra — whose record of 2:18.90 was set at Hyderabad in July 2023 — competed and finished fifth at 2:24.41. Her national record remains intact.

Aditi Satish Hegde — Women’s 400m Freestyle Gold

Aditi Satish Hegde of Maharashtra continues to be the story of this championship. Three days in, she has now won two individual golds — the 1500m Freestyle NMR on Day 1 and now the Women’s 400m Freestyle with 4:25.31. The national record of 4:24.70 by Hashika Ramachandra narrowly survived — Aditi was just 0.61 seconds outside it. Dhinidhi Desinghu, competing in her third individual event of Day 3, finished second at 4:25.76, with Vritti Agarwal of Telangana third at 4:25.88. The top three were separated by just 0.57 seconds across the full 400 metres. Bhavya Sachdeva (Delhi) was fourth at 4:26.16.

Tamil Nadu Break the Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay Record

The Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay final saw Tamil Nadu reclaim their national record. Clocking 3:44.74, they broke their own NMR of 3:45.09 set at Bhubaneswar last year by 0.35 seconds. The four legs: MJ Praveen Kumar Praveen (backstroke), Danush Suresh (breaststroke), B Benedicton Rohit (butterfly), Adhithya Dinesh (freestyle). RSPB were second at 3:48.89 and Karnataka third at 3:48.92 — separated by just 0.03 seconds for silver. SSCB, who would have been strong contenders, were disqualified in the heats for entering a swimmer not listed in the startlist.

Day 3 Results at a Glance

Event	Gold	State/Unit	Time	NMR?
Women’s 100m Freestyle	Dhinidhi Desinghu	Karnataka	56.57	✓ NMR
Men’s 400m Medley	Shoan Ganguly	Karnataka	4:24.80	—
Women’s 200m Backstroke	Pratyasa Ray	Odisha	2:20.22	—
Men’s 1500m Freestyle	Aryan Nehra	Gujarat	15:14.88	✓ NMR
Women’s 400m Freestyle	Aditi Satish Hegde	Maharashtra	4:25.31	—
Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay	Tamil Nadu	Tamil Nadu	3:44.74	✓ NMR

Medal Tally — Days 1 to 3

State / Unit	🏅 Gold	🥈 Silver	🥉 Bronze	Total
Karnataka	10	4	4	18
Tamil Nadu	3	1	1	5
Maharashtra	3	2	3	8
SSCB	1	3	3	7
RSPB	1	1	1	3
Gujarat	1	0	1	2
Odisha	1	0	1	2
Assam	0	2	0	2
Uttar Pradesh	0	1	2	3
Telangana	0	2	1	3
Bengal	0	1	0	1
Madhya Pradesh	0	1	0	1
Delhi	0	0	1	1

What to Watch on Day 4

The championship enters its second half with momentum building. The Men’s 200m Freestyle will be one of the races of the meet — Akash Mani, who won the 100m Free on Day 1, steps up to the longer distance. The Women’s 100m Backstroke brings Suvana C Baskar, who won the 50m back on Day 2, back to the pool in her stronger event where she holds the national record of 29.63. The Men’s 200m Butterfly and Women’s 100m Breaststroke are also on the programme. And with Dhinidhi having now competed in four events across three days, the question for Karnataka management is how much more they ask of her before the meet is done.