Asian Games 2026: "I might not get into a pool for few months," says Srihari Nataraj

Srihari Nataraj arrived at the 2026 Aichi Nagoya Asian Games with a clear aim of making the podium in the men’s 50m Backstroke.

He did reach the final, but finished last with a time of 25.52s, an unexpected result for someone who is competing in his third Asian Games.

Speaking to The Bridge from Aichi Nagoya, Srihari confessed of having a rough swim in the heats but gave his best in the finals.

“I did everything I could mentally and physically. In the heat, I was fighting with myself. I was trying too hard, and had a very rough swim,” Srihari said.

While the heats were a struggle, the 25-year-old rectified his mistakes in the final. At the Asian Games, 10 swimmers advanced to the individual finals and eight in the relay events. Nataraj was tied with Iran’s Homer Abbasi after the heats and qualified in ninth/tenth place.

“In the finals, I felt a lot better mentally, a lot more relaxed, I knew there was still a chance, and I think I executed everything better. But it just didn't happen, one of those days where it just wasn't meant to be,” he added.

In the lead-up to the Games, Nataraj experienced a different training environment, with his personal coach Nihar Ameen not part of the coaching staff and the team working under the new foreign coach Sean Kelly from Ireland.

He, however, stopped short of using that as an excuse adding that his objective was to win a medal while the team meetings prioritised making the finals.

“Telling the team that we're not going to win medals is not the way to go to the biggest tournament of some of our careers. I'm not trying to make excuses for how I swam,” Nataraj reflected.

“My goal was to win a medal, but almost every team meeting was about not winning a medal. The coach told us ‘we're not here to win medals, we're only here to swim fast in the heats’,” the two-time Olympian shared.

'Won't train the orthodox way'

Taking inspiration from Australian swimmer Cameron McEvoy, Srihari plans to continue with the sprint-focused approach that he adopted in recent months. He feels Indian swimming is heavily reliant on the orthodox training pattern and swimmers need to take more risks.

“I think what I've been doing the past few months is the right way of training for me and I'm going to stick to it. Even if I'm swimming the 100m, I'm no longer going to train the orthodox way,” he pointed.

“McEvoy started this whole thing about being hyper-specific training and learning from other sports,” Srihari said.

Srihari met McEvoy during the Commonwealth Games where the duo shared their ways and the Australian said ‘on the right path’ while handing out some tips to the Indian.

Post the Asian Games, Srihari could take a significant break from the pool before deciding his next steps.

“I don't know what training is going to be like now. I'm definitely going to take time off. Might not even get into the pool for the next few months but I might be in the gym training. There's a lot of things I have to just think about and work it out.”

“90% to 99% is my last Asian Games unless we see a miracle,” he said.

For now, the 25-year-old plans to step away from the pool, spend some time in Tokyo and return home to complete his MBA exams before deciding what comes next.