Teenager Rishabh re-writes 200m backstroke national record

JUST days after Benediction Rohit's 50m butterfly record, a new national record holder has risen from the depths and into the limelight in the form of 17-year-old rising star Rishabh Das, as he claimed gold in the 200m backstroke event in the 78th Senior National Aquatic Championships 2025 in Bhubaneswar with a stupendous timing of 2:00.65, smashing the previous record held by Srihari Nataraj, one of India's great backstrokers by two whole seconds.

- SAARNAV DAS @Chennai

"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 used to cross the finish line in record time. According to him, the national record was not even on his mind when he was trying to finish. "I was just trying to improve myself. I was just thinking about breaking my personal time, trying to get to two minutes." Clearly, it turned out to be one heck of an im