2025 World University Games
- July 17th-23rd, 2025
- Prelims: 9 a.m. local time (3 a.m. EST)
- Finals: 7 p.m. local time (1 p.m. EST)
- Berlin, Germany
- LCM (50 Meters)
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Srihari Nataraj broke a 17-year-old Indian National Record in the heats of the men’s 100 freestyle tonight, shaving a hundredth of Virdhawal Khade‘s mark from the 2008 Youth Commonwealth Games. Nataraj previously ranked as the second fastest Indian ever with his time of 49.80, set in the heats at the World University Games in Chengdu two years ago, so shaved 0.34 seconds from his best time this morning.
Indian Top-5 100 Free Performers
- Srihari Nataraj (2025) – 49.46
- Virdhawal Khade (2008) – 49.47
- Neel Roy (2022) – 50.50
- Tanish Mathew (2024) – 50.58
- Akash Mani (2025) – 50.73
Nataraj now owns four National Records in long course, as he also owns the 200 free, 50 back and 100 back. He had previously held the 200 back before it was broken by Rishabh Anupam Das just last month. He additionally owns four records in short course, in all three backstroke distances and the 100 free.
Nataraj’s Indian Records
| Short Course | Long Course |
| 100 free – 48.65 | 100 free – 49.46 |
| 50 back – 24.40 | 200 free – 1:48.11 |
| 100 back – 52.81 | 50 back – 25.18 |
| 200 back – 1:59.69 | 100 back – 53.77 |
Impressively, his swim this morning came just 20 minutes after he qualified for the semi finals in the 50 backstroke in 25.59, four-tenths off his best. This also marls the second record he has set in Berlin, after breaking the 200 freestyle record in the semi-finals of that event. He missed out on the final there by just 0.07 seconds, placing 9th.
Nataraj has been one of India’s premier swimming stars, and along with Sajan Prakesh competed at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. He also swam last summer in Paris, placing 27th in the 100 backstroke in 54.31, however did not enter the 100 backstroke here.
