Bengaluru swimmer Srihari Nataraj records Olympic timing, but must await approval

BENGALURU:  Bengaluru swimmer Srihari Nataraj on Sunday recorded the Olympic Qualifying Time (A cut) in the 100m backstroke at the Setti Colli Championship in Rome. His timing of 53.77 seconds in the requested time trial was better than the A cut timing of 53.85 secs.

The timing will be sent to the world swimming body, FINA, which will decide in the coming days whether to accept it or not. If his timing is okayed by FINA, he will only be the second Indian swimmer after Sajan Prakash, who achieved the feat on Saturday, to attain a direct Olympics berth.

“It will be for FINA to accept the result from the time trial at an approved qualification event. It is done routinely at many accredited meets, as in the recent case of the US Olympics team trials for the 400m freestyle event…,” said Monal Chokshi, Secretary-General, Swimming Federation of India. In fact, Srihari had come close in the 100m backstroke a few days ago, falling short of the A mark by just .05 seconds.