Mana Patel, Virdhawal Khade win best swimmers’ award




Mana Patel of Gujarat and Maharashtra’s Virdhawal Khade emerged as the best swimmers of the 69th senior National Aquatic Championship. Mana, who broke her national record by 13 micro second in women’s 50m backstroke race, was adjudged the best swimmer in the women’s category of the competition that concluded recently. Mana, on the concluding day, won the gold medal by setting a new national record by finishing the 50 m backstroke even taking 30:25 second. Earlier in 2014, she had set a record in the 50m backstroke event taking time of 30:38 seconds.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra’s Virdhawal Khade was declared best swimmer of the event in men’s category. The Karnataka aquatic team was adjudged the best team for its overall performance in the competition. Karnataka won 28 medals (9 gold, 8 silver and 11 bronze) and stood second. The Railway was at the top in the points table winning 27 medals (14 golds, 9 silver and 4 Bronze), while Maharashtra (29 medals) and Gujarat (14 medals) stood at third and fourth positions, respectively.

Over 700 swimmers from across the country had taken part in the five-day-long event organised jointly by the Swimming Federation of India (SFI) and Gujarat State Aquatic Association (GSAA) and hosted jointly by the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) and Rajkot District Swimming Association (RDSA).

Did You Know???

  • Swimming has been a part of the Olympics since 1896.
  • An hour of vigorous swimming will burn up to 650 calories. It burns off more calories than walking or biking.
  • Swimming is the best way to cool off in the sizzling hot summer; no matter how high the temperature is, water never fails to freshen you up!
  • Swimming is a great cardiovascular exercise because you are moving against the water’s resistance, which is over ten times that of the air.

Try This…

Who is Bhakti Sharma and what is her record?

Click to View Answer

Answer –  Bhakti Sharma, Indian swimmer, set a record by swimming 1.4 miles in 52 minutes at a temperature of 1 degree Celsius in the Antarctic Ocean, on January 14, 2015.

November 30, ’89 born Bhakti is the youngest in the world to have reached this forte. She is also the first Asian girl to have done so.

Bhakti received the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award in 2010. As stated by her she was much supported by Hindustan Zinc in Udaipur.