Sirish finished the distance in 58.22 seconds to surpass his own record of 58.55 seconds that he had set during the Fourth NSA Cup Open Swimming Tournament held in the capital in 2014.However, Sirish was 10.11 seconds behind winner Zetao Ning (48.11 seconds) of China as he finished in the 100th position among 115 participants.
Swimming coach Ongden Lama said that Sirish did not perform as expected in the championship. Lama has been training Sirish in domestic events.
"Nepali swimming is expecting medals from Sirish as he has been getting better training opportunities. He could have completed the distance even in less time," said coach Lama.
Sirish had attended advanced training in Thailand along with Sofia Shah.
Sirish has been dominating the domestic swimming events with nine national records under his belt. Sirish has national records in freestyle of 1500 m, 800 m, 400 m, 200 m, 100 m as well as 200 m backstroke, 200 m butterfly in addition to 400 m and 200 m individual medley.
Sirish joins Sofia Shah and Gaurika Singh who set new national records in Kazan.
Sofia set national record in 200 m freestyle, while Guarika set new national record in 100 m backstroke during the same championship.
Coach Lama opined that Gaurika's record has given new hope to the Nepali swimming sector.
"Gaurika improved a lot while breaking national record. If she keeps improving in the same manner then she can win medals in South Asian Games," he said.
Four Nepali swimmers Sirish, Sofia, Gaurika and Kiran Karki are competing in the championship. Ishwar Karki is the team coach.
Related story
Swimmer Sirish Gurung feted
