The sixteen-year-old came into limelight for the first time during the 18th Open National Swimming Championship which was held in Kathmandu last month, by breaking the national record in 100m freestyle. However, Shah’s success was overshadowed by Dhital who finished ahead of her to claim the first position as well as the new record.[break]
“Both of them broke the national record but Sofia lagged behind,” Jagat Man Shrestha, General Secretary of Nepal Swimming Association, told Republica.
But Shah broke the jinx by setting three new national records within a month – two of them during the FINA World Championship in Barcelona earlier this month, and the other one during the FINA Junior World Championship in Dubai last Tuesday.
“Things have changed now. Sofia has proved that she’s much better than Dhital in freestyle,” Shrestha added.
Interestingly, Shah’s first national record was established during her international debut at the World Championship in the women’s 200m freestyle.
She clocked 2 minutes 31.79 seconds in the event to beat the previous record of 2 minutes 37.75 seconds held by Karishma Karki. However, Shah finished in the 43rd position among the 45 participants at the meet.
Four days later, she set the second national record in the women’s 50m freestyle, shattering the 13-year-old record held by Runa Pradhan.
She finished the event with the timing of 30.16 seconds, more than one second ahead of Pradhan’s record, but she failed to qualify in the heat round.
In her personal duel with Dhital, Shah had the last laugh as she finally defeated the national record holder in the 100m freestyle for her third record.
Shah clocked 1 minute 7.23 seconds on Tuesday during the Junior World to surpass the previous national record of 1 minute 9.82 seconds set by Dhital during the 18th Open National Swimming Championship.
She now holds the national records in the women’s 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle events.
And with Dhital off to the USA for studies, Shah is expected to dominate the national swimming pool for years to come.
“Shreya has already left for the USA and now Sofia remains as the undisputed rising star of Nepali swimming. She’s young and is unlikely to be challenged by anyone at the national level for three or four years,” said Shrestha.
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