Teenager Rishabh re-writes 200m backstroke national record

Rising star Rishabh Das is making a habit of breaking records. The 17-year-old was the cynosure of all eyes in the ongoing 78th Senior National Aquatic Championships 2025 in Bhubaneshwar on Wednesday as he pocketed the 200m backstroke gold medal with a sizzling effort. He stopped the clock at 2:00.65s, smashing the national record that was previously owned by Olympian Srihari Nataraj. What was more impressive was the fact that did it by two whole seconds.

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"Actually, my race strategy in the previous heats was to push the next 100, not the first 100. But today (Wednesday), my race strategy was to push from the start for the whole 200. So that helped me to drop the time. It was painful, but it was worth it," explained Rishabh, while talking about the strategy he employed to return with a record run.

He was not even aiming for the record and was just looking to improve his previous best. "I was just trying to improve myself. I was just thinking to break my personal time, trying to get to two minutes," he said. Clearly, it turned out to be one heck of an improvement in the end.

Like many great things, Rishabh's introduction to the sport was completely by chance as he was spotted during a talent search programme organised by the coach of the swimming team of Fr Agnels School in Vashi, Navi Mumbai, Gokul Kamath.