The National Aquatic Championships 2026 took place from June 16th to June 21st, at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Ahmedabad.
On June 21st, the last day of the championship, Vritti Agarwal broke the 15-year-old women’s 800m freestyle record. The record was held by Richa Mishra with a time of 9:06.31, until Vritti finished the swim in a record time of 9:05.47. Agarwal’s time also helped her register the ‘best Indian time’ as well.
Nina Venkatesh recorded a best of 27.67 to win the women’s 50m butterfly title. It became the best time logged by an Indian in the particular category. Saanvi Deshwal earned three golds and one silver, rewriting one record. Along with her, Aryan claimed three golds and one bronze while rewriting two records, both of them were selected as the best swimmers.
Karnataka won the men’s and women’s team championships.
Several other records were broken in the women’s categories: Rujula Shashidhara broke the national record for the 50m freestyle (26.23s). Aditi Hegde shattered an 11-year-old record for the 1500m freestyle, recording a time of 17:20:82. In the 400m Individual Medley, Thanya Shadakshari set a new national record of 4:56.78.
Winners (Women):
- Vritti Agarwal – 800m Freestyle (9:05.47)
- Nina Venkatesh – 50m Butterfly (27.67)
- Nina Venkatesh, S. Lakshya, Tanishi Gupta, Dhinidhi Desinghu – 4x100m Medley (4:18.72)
Winners (Men):
- Aryan Nehra – 400m Freestyle (3:55.34)
- Rishabh Das – 200m Backstroke (1:59.90)
- Danush Suresh – 50m Breaststroke (28.38)
