In the course of creating the new record, Gurung completed the distance in 19:48:16 minutes, shattering the record of Jay Prakash Gurung. The latter had set the national record during 1984 South Asian Games (SAF) in Kathmandu. [break]
“I was confident that the record would be broken one day. But I had not expected that I would be the one and with such a good timing,” said Gurung, a 10th grader, after setting the national record.
Gurung who started swimming nine years back claimed other gold medals in open 100 m freestyle and other two golds came from 14 years age group 50 m backstroke and 50 m freestyle.
On Wednesday, Gurung had won gold in 200 m individual medley, 200 m freestyle and 100 m butterfly in open section. Similarly, in U-14 age category, Gurung had secured first positions in the 100m freestyle, 50m butterfly and 50m breaststroke.
Gurung, who swims for two hours each day, said he hopes to win at least a medal in the upcoming SAG to be held in 2013. “My next target is to win a medal in the SAG and compete in the Olympics one day,” said the teenager who is interested in music and plays keyboard. “On Wednesday, I have a musical night entitled Sirish-Fatteman where I’m set to perform along with legendary singer Fatteman Rajbhandari.”
Sirish was also full of praise for his New Zealand coach Cliff Threidgood, who arrived in Nepal some two and half months earlier to provide him training.
Coach Threidgood said that he was pleased with the new record and said that there was ample scope for improvement for Gurung and Nepali swimming. “Gurung is young and we need to focus on children’s swimming for better future prospect.”
Regarding Nepal’s chances of winning medal in the upcoming SAG, Threidgood said he wasn’t very hopeful. “I don’t think Nepal could win a medal in the upcoming SAG,” Threidgood said, adding, “Starting October, we won’t be able to train until the beginning of new season. There must be swimming facility all year round for improvement.”
Swimming pools in Nepal remain closed during winter due to lack of heating system.
According to Threidgood, Nepal is three minutes away for winning medal in 1500 m at the South Asian level. “The main thing is that we should focus on improving, not winning medal to see some improvement in the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics.”
“If Gurung travels with me in winter for a six-month training in New Zealand, he could improve a lot,” Threidgood said.
Meanwhile, Jayanta Prakash Gurung of Kathmandu claimed gold in men’s open 100 m backstroke, 50 m open breaststroke title went to Prabesh Adhikari of Dhading and Manish Chitrakar of Nuwakot took home 50 m butterfly title.
Sofia Shah of Kathmandu took women’s 200 m freestyle title, Sonira Bista of Lalitpur bagged first position in women’s open 100 m breaststroke, Avashree Gurung of Kathmandu won women’s 100 m open butterfly title and Celina Gurung emerged victorious in open 50 m backstroke. Similarly, Jitzwelly Maharjan of Lalitpur claimed 50 m freestyle in women’s open section.
Similarly, Gyanodaya School took the title of 4X50 meter relay coming ahead of Little Angels’ School (LAS) and HIMS which finished second and third.
Meanwhile, LAS secured top place in the school category finishing with 100 points. Lincoln School with 68 points, HIMS with 48 points, Baba with 30 points and Kendriya Vidyalaya secured second to fifth spots respectively.
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