Srihari Nataraj The Latest Record-Breaker In A Resurgent Year For India

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)
• Meet Central
• Entries List
• Live Results
• Livestream
• Live Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

24-year-old Srihari Nataraj set a fifth new Indian Record in less than a week for the Indian World University Games team in the 100 freestyle on Day 4 of the meet. Nataraj has himself set two, in the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle, with the other two coming from Benedicton Rohit Beniston Manickaraj in the men’s 50 fly, where he took the record under 24 seconds for the first time in 2.96.

Manickaraj swam that time in the semi-finals on Day 1, having also broken the record in the heats with a swim of 24.00. Those were his second and third National Records of the year, after he broke Virdhawal Khade‘s longstanding record in the 100 fly last month.

The 21-year-old has been on a tear so far this year, and had a roundabout route to elite swimming. As reported by News18.com after setting the 100 fly record at the Indian National Championships:

“Rohit, who was born with a broken thigh bone and took to swimming for physical fitness, smashed the 100m butterfly record three weeks ago with his showing at the Senior Nationals. The teenager started training for the event back in the year 2023 and has witnessed success thanks to his rigorous grind.”

He narrowly missed the 50 fly record at those championships in a time of 24.11, just 0.02 away, and was part of the record-setting 4×100 mixed medley relay, meaning he has been part of four National Records already this year.

Nataraj swam to a time of 1:48.11 in the 200 freestyle semi-finals on Day 2, shaving more than half a second off his own record from the Singaporean Championships just last month . He was agonisingly close to becoming India’s first finalist of the meet as he placed 9th, just seven-hundredths away from a place in the final, and has taken nearly a second off his best this season.

He followed that up in the 100 freestyle on Day 4, setting a new National Record with a heats swim of 49.46, shaving a hundredth of a second from Virdhawal Khade‘s record which had stood since 2008. He was previously the #2 Indian swimmer all-time with his best of 49.80, so shaved 0.34 seconds off here in Berlin.

He came close to resetting that record in the semi-finals, with a swim of 49.56 coming within a tenth of a second of his morning swim and placing him 13th overall.

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 record last night was the 14th of the year for Indian swimmers. Impressively, 13 of these have come in the last four weeks.

Indian Records Set So Far In 2025

India has not had much medal success on the international stage despite their size. They won a bronze at each of the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games, thanks to Virdhawal Khade in the 50 fly and Sandeep Sejwal in the 50 breast respectively, but Khade’s had been their first medal for 24 years.

They have won a single medal at the Commonwealth Games, Prasanta Karmakar winning bronze in the men’s S9 50 freestyle at the 2010 edition held in Delhi. Nataraj was a finalist three years ago in Birmingham in the 50 back and 100 back, finishing  a quarter of a second behind the winner of the bronze medal in each. Sajan Prakash made the final in the 200 fly, with Advait Page and Kushagra Rawat also making the final of the 1500 free.

With both the Commonwealth and Asian Games coming up next summer, the number of National Records so far in 2025 is a promising sign.

India is sending a team of six swimmers to the World Championships in Singapore starting next Sunday, including four National Record holders. Shoan Ganguly, who is part of those six, is also competing here in Berlin and takes on the 400 IM tomorrow. This is India’s largest World Championships team since they sent a team of seven to the 2019 edition in Gwangju