Swimmer Srihari Nataraj breaches Olympic ‘A’ cut

Nataraj's Sunday's effort, which came in a time trial, has created a new national record, which was enough to achieve the 'A' mark for the Tokyo Games set at 53.85 seconds

New Delhi: Ace Indian swimmer Srihari Nataraj on Sunday breached the ‘A’ standard time for the Tokyo Games by clocking 53.77s in the men’s 100m backstroke at the Sette Colli Trophy but his participation in the Olympics will be confirmed only if FINA approves the timing.

Nataraj had come agonisingly close to the breaching the ‘A’ standard in the same event a couple of days back but missed it by 0.05 second after an effort of 53.90 seconds. Nataraj’s Sunday’s effort, which came in a time trial, has created a new national record, which was enough to achieve the ‘A’ mark for the Tokyo Games set at 53.85 seconds.

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In time trials, swimmers do not compete against other rivals but they get a chance to better their timing. The Bengaluru swimmer was allowed a time trial by the organisers on the last day for Olympic qualification.

“Srihari Nataraj swam a 53.77 seconds in the time trial for 100m backstroke achieving the A qualification time for Tokyo 2020. His time achieved in the time trial shall be sent to FINA by the host federation along with the regular meet results,” the Swimming Federation of India (SFI) said in a statement. However, the time needs to be officially approved by FINA, the world body of aquatics.

“We are very excited with the A cuts achieved by both our swimmers and hoping this result will be considered by FINA for Srihari to join Sajan Prakash as a direct qualification ( A cut ) entry for Tokyo 2020,” SFI Secretary General Monal Chokshi said.