<p>Mangaluru: Karnataka swimmers kick-started their title defence on a rousing note, winning as many as 9 medals with Hashika Ramachandra smashing a long-standing meet record on the opening day of the 77th Senior National Aquatic Championships here on Tuesday.</p><p>The talented Hashika, who has been making waves on the national circuit over the last few years, clocked 4:24.70 in the women’s 400 freestyle event at the International Aquatic Complex to obliterate Richa Mishra record of 4:25.76 set way back in 2011.</p><p>Aneesh S Gowda (400m freestyle), Akash Mani (100m backstroke) and Thanya Shadakshari (200m breaststroke) were the other gold medal winners for Karnataka with the state men’s and women’s teams also triumphing in the 4x200m freestyle relay.</p><p>Aneesh produced a strong show from start to finish in the 400m freestyle, cantering home in 3:56.59 with state-mate Dharshan S coming a distance second (4:01.39) and Railways’ Devansh Maheshkumar Parmar (4:01.70) a close third. </p><p><strong>Results</strong>: Men: 400m freestyle: Aneesh S Gowda (Kar) 3:56.59, 1; Dharshan S (Kar) 4:01.39, 2; Devansh Maheshkumar Parmar (RSPB) 4:01.70, 3.</p><p>100m backstroke: Akash Mani (Kar) 56.15, 1; Rishabh Anupam Das (Mah) 57.28, 2; Vinayak Vijay (SSCB) 57.66, 3.</p><p>200m breaststroke: Danush Suresh (TN) 2:18.85, 1; Manikanta L (Kar) 2:20.66, 2; Anoop Augustine (RSPB) 2:21.63, 3.</p><p>50m butterfly: B Benedicton Rohit (TN) 24.22, 1; Mihir Ambre (Mah) 24.37, 2; Adhithya Dinesh (TN) 24.63, 3.</p><p>4x200m freestyle relay: Karnataka (7:42.90) 1; RSPB (7:47.64) 2; SSCB (7:50.45) 3.</p><p>Women: 400m freestyle: Hashika Ramachandra (Kar) 4:24.70 (NMR; Old: 4:25.76, Richa Mishra, 2011) 1; Vritti Agarwal (Tlg) 4:25.09, 2; Bhavya Sachdeva (Del) 4:30.94, 3. 100m backstroke: Soubrity Mondal (WB) 1:05.51, 1; Pratyasa Ray (Odi) 1:05.82, 2; Rujuta Prasad Rajadnya (Mah) 1:06.30, 3. 200m breaststroke: Thanya Shadakshari (Kar) 2:40.54, 1; Jyoti Bajirao Patil (Mah) 2:42.01, 2; Harshitha Jayaram (RSPB) 2:43.48, 3. 50 butterfly: Mahi Swetraj (Bih) 28.33, 1; Manavi Varma (Kar) 28.67, 2; Rujuta Prasad Rajadnya (Mah) 28.70, 3. 4x200m freestyle relay: Karnataka (8:54.85) 1; Maharashtra (9:01.15) 2; Odisha (9:03.53) 3.</p>
<p>Mangaluru: Karnataka swimmers kick-started their title defence on a rousing note, winning as many as 9 medals with Hashika Ramachandra smashing a long-standing meet record on the opening day of the 77th Senior National Aquatic Championships here on Tuesday.</p><p>The talented Hashika, who has been making waves on the national circuit over the last few years, clocked 4:24.70 in the women’s 400 freestyle event at the International Aquatic Complex to obliterate Richa Mishra record of 4:25.76 set way back in 2011.</p><p>Aneesh S Gowda (400m freestyle), Akash Mani (100m backstroke) and Thanya Shadakshari (200m breaststroke) were the other gold medal winners for Karnataka with the state men’s and women’s teams also triumphing in the 4x200m freestyle relay.</p><p>Aneesh produced a strong show from start to finish in the 400m freestyle, cantering home in 3:56.59 with state-mate Dharshan S coming a distance second (4:01.39) and Railways’ Devansh Maheshkumar Parmar (4:01.70) a close third. </p><p><strong>Results</strong>: Men: 400m freestyle: Aneesh S Gowda (Kar) 3:56.59, 1; Dharshan S (Kar) 4:01.39, 2; Devansh Maheshkumar Parmar (RSPB) 4:01.70, 3.</p><p>100m backstroke: Akash Mani (Kar) 56.15, 1; Rishabh Anupam Das (Mah) 57.28, 2; Vinayak Vijay (SSCB) 57.66, 3.</p><p>200m breaststroke: Danush Suresh (TN) 2:18.85, 1; Manikanta L (Kar) 2:20.66, 2; Anoop Augustine (RSPB) 2:21.63, 3.</p><p>50m butterfly: B Benedicton Rohit (TN) 24.22, 1; Mihir Ambre (Mah) 24.37, 2; Adhithya Dinesh (TN) 24.63, 3.</p><p>4x200m freestyle relay: Karnataka (7:42.90) 1; RSPB (7:47.64) 2; SSCB (7:50.45) 3.</p><p>Women: 400m freestyle: Hashika Ramachandra (Kar) 4:24.70 (NMR; Old: 4:25.76, Richa Mishra, 2011) 1; Vritti Agarwal (Tlg) 4:25.09, 2; Bhavya Sachdeva (Del) 4:30.94, 3. 100m backstroke: Soubrity Mondal (WB) 1:05.51, 1; Pratyasa Ray (Odi) 1:05.82, 2; Rujuta Prasad Rajadnya (Mah) 1:06.30, 3. 200m breaststroke: Thanya Shadakshari (Kar) 2:40.54, 1; Jyoti Bajirao Patil (Mah) 2:42.01, 2; Harshitha Jayaram (RSPB) 2:43.48, 3. 50 butterfly: Mahi Swetraj (Bih) 28.33, 1; Manavi Varma (Kar) 28.67, 2; Rujuta Prasad Rajadnya (Mah) 28.70, 3. 4x200m freestyle relay: Karnataka (8:54.85) 1; Maharashtra (9:01.15) 2; Odisha (9:03.53) 3.</p>