National Swimming C'ships: Divya breaks national record again in her lucky pool

Apeksha Fernandes shocks record-holder and defending champion Saloni Dalal in 200m breaststroke, S. Siva claims maiden senior gold in 400m medley.

Divya Satija from Haryana won Gold Medal in Women 50 m Butterfly race.

Divya Satija had set the Prakash Tarun Pushkar pool on fire with her 50m butterfly National record two years ago and on Saturday, something told her that it could be a special day all over again.

She was right. With Karnataka's Nina Venkatesh pushing her hard, the 23-year-old from Faridabad broke her own National record, clocking 28.33s (old 28.64), to take the gold at the 73 Glenmark National senior aquatic championships here. She also made the cut for the Asian age-group meet which begins in Bengaluru on September 24.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra's Apeksha Fernandes shocked Karnataka's record-holder and defending champion Saloni Dalal and took the women's 200m breaststroke title.

A little earlier, Karnataka's S. Siva claimed his maiden senior National gold, by winning the tough men's 400m medley.

All in the mind

“I was eighth last year. It's really the mindset, I was getting very nervous when it came to the national arena and I used to fumble in my races. This year, it was all about keeping the mind calm and it worked,” said Siva, who also qualified for the Asian age-group.