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National Games

National Games 2025: Dhinidhi, Srihari dazzle with 9 gold medals each

The Karnataka swimmers won two golds on the final day's aquatics program at the games on Tuesday.

Srihari Nataraj and Dhinidhi Desinghu swimming
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Srihari Nataraj (left) and Dhinidhi Desinghu will return with a bucket-load of medals. (File photo)

By

The Bridge Desk

Updated: 5 Feb 2025 12:47 PM GMT

Paris Olympians Dhinidhi Desinghu and Srihari Nataraj shone throughout the intense and exciting aquatics program at the National Games 2025 in Uttarakhand, winning nine gold medals each.

The swimmers, representing Karnataka, won two gold medals each on the final day, helping the state grab a total of 22 gold medals from the swimming program, which incidentally was three better than the previous edition.

Dhinidhi shines with 11 medals

The 14-year-old Dhinidhi Desinghu, who was in constant focus at the meet, impressed everyone winning 11 medals (nine gold, one silver, and one bronze).

In addition, she also re-wrote two new national records in the women's 200m freestyle and women's 400m freestyle. Her continuous improvement on the circuit earmarks her as a potential future star for India in swimming.

What stood out for Dhinidhi was the fact that five of her golds were in the individual categories - 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle, 200m Freestyle, 400m Freestyle, and 100m Butterfly.

Other impressive performances in the women's competition came in from Bhavya Sachedva of Delhi, who dominated the long-distance freestyle races and won both the 800m and 1500m individual gold medals.

Srihari continues Nationals reign

Srihari Nataraj, already a prominent name in Indian swimming, proved his worth once again and dominated the men's competition by winning 10 medals (Nine golds and one silver medal).

Srihari, who also represented India at the Paris Olympics, had a chance of taking his gold medal tally to double-digits but lost a very close final to Mihir Ambre of Maharashtra in the 50m freestyle event.

On the other hand, another international star, Kushagra Rawat of Delhi dominated the freestyle category and won three individual gold medals (400m, 800m, and 1500m Freestyle category).

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