Records galore as Navy become champions

As many as 11 national records, including five in the third and final day, were set as the Bangabandhu 30th National Swimming Championships concluded at Syed Nazrul Islam Swimming Complex in Mirpur yesterday.

Of all the records, which were based on hand timings, 10 records belonged to Bangladesh Navy as they became champions with 38 gold, 23 silver and eight bronze medals while Bangladesh Army finished second with five gold, 18 silver and 19 bronze medals as well as setting up a new record.

On the concluding day, Omar Ali created history in 200m breaststroke event with a timing of 2:24.93, eclipsing the previous best of 2:27.11 made by Jahangir Alam in 2008 while Sonia Akter overtook her previous best of 30.63 seconds to produce a new record in 50m butterfly, clocking 30.07 seconds. In the 400m freestyle, Kajal Mia clocked 4:17.35 to erase Faisal Ahmed's 04:18.22 timing.

The other two records were toppled in relay and diving events with the Bangladesh Navy team breaking their own record in 4X100 men's medley relay with a timing of 3:58.93 to eclipse the previous best of 3:59.14. Nasim Hossain also followed the footsteps of his teammates to create a new record in the 5m platform diving event.

Kajal Mia was adjudged the best male swimmer as the Bangladesh Navy swimmer bagged five gold and created three national records while his female teammate Sonia Akter grabbed six gold medals and two silver medals during which she produced a new record as well. Mariyam Akter and Juthi Akter, also from Bangladesh Navy, together bagged five gold medals by setting three new records to their credit.