It turned out to be a Pyrrhic victory for Aryan Nehra.
The teenage swimming talent equalled the India best for the 800m freestyle event but finished 27th in the 800m freestyle heats at the swimming World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, on Tuesday.
The 19-year-old finished at a personal best of 8:00.76 in the heats, thus matching Advait Page's ‘best Indian time’. But he did not qualify for the final. For that he would have had to finish in the top eight.
A swimming performance is considered a national record when it has been registered at the National Aquatic Championships. The timings achieved in other meets are called 'best Indian time'.
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Nehra’s earlier best was 8:01.81. He had achieved that in early July at the Nationals in Hyderabad. The Gujarat youngster won four gold medals at the Nationals and registered as many national records.
Sajan Prakash, the other Indian in action on Tuesday in Fukuoka, stood 23rd in 200m butterfly with a timing of 1:58:07. Earlier, the two-time Olympian had finished 57th among 91 swimmers in the 50m butterfly.
Nehra has one more event left, the 1500m freestyle, which will be held later in the week.
