KATHMANDU, Sept 27:Nepal´s teenage swimming star Shirish Gurung of Nepal Police Club added another feather to his cap by setting a new national record in the men´s open 200 meters individual medley during the Nepal Ice NSA Swimming Championship on Friday.
Gurung completed the event at the Satdobato Swimming Complex in a record time of 2 minutes 30.25 seconds, breaking the earlier mark of 2 minutes 31.87 seconds set by Shailesh Rana during the Sixth National Games last year. Devesh Manandhar of Holy Garden finished second and Janak Rai of Nepal Army took third position in the event.[break]
Besides setting the new national record, Gurung also bagged three other golds on Friday. He won the men´s open 1500 meters freestyle with a timing of 20 minutes 57.97 seconds, men´s 100 meters backstroke (1 minute 15.30 seconds) and men´s 200 meters butterfly (2 minutes 33.32 seconds) to take his gold medals tally to four.
In the 1500m freestyle, Chitra Bahadur Paudel and Besan Chhetri, both from Nepal Army, finished second and third respectively.
Likewise, Miraj Prajapati of Dhumbarahi Swim Club and Jayant Prakash Gurung finished second and third in the 100m backstroke. Army´s Kabindra Thapa and Jayant secured second and third positions respectively in the 200m butterfly.
Despite being second fiddle to Shirish Gurung, Prajapati managed to win two golds in other short-course events.
He won gold in the 50 meters breaststroke with a timing of 36.35 seconds. Kiran Karki of Baba Boarding School secured the second position and Ripesh Chaudhary of Nepal Army finished third in the event.
Prajapati´s second gold came in the 50 meters freestyle. He pipped Devesh Manandhar of Holy Garden to the title with a timing of 28.26 seconds. Jayant finished third in the event.
Meanwhile, Aditi Dhital of Lincoln School won gold in the women´s open 1500 meters freestyle event, which was held for the first time in Nepal. Dhital clocked 22 minutes 43.84 seconds to claim gold in the event. Nepal Army duo Yam Kumari Ghale and Keshari Thapa Magar finished second and third respectively.
In the women´s open 100 meters backstroke, Sheila Gurung of Xavier Academy clinched gold with a timing of 1 minute 30 seconds, finishing ahead of Jitjwali Maharjan of Little Angels´ and Rashika Paudel of Pathshala Nepal.
Sonira Bista of Nepal Army struck gold in the women´s open 50 meters breaststroke clocking 41.26 seconds. Her sister Sabbu finished second while Rashika Paudel took the third position.
Earlier, Secretary at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Hari Prasad Nepal, inaugurated the tournament. Altogether 23 male and 12 female swimmers are competing in the open category, while 71 boys and 52 girls are competing in the age group section of the three-day tournament organized by Nepal Swimming Association.