Nataraj misses out on a semi-final berth in 100m backstroke at the World Swimming Championships

Fukuoka. India’s top swimmer Srihari Nataraj failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the men’s 100m backstroke event at the World Championships here on Monday despite clocking his season’s best time. The Asian Games swimmer clocked 55.26 seconds to finish last in his heat and 31st overall. The top 18 swimmers in heat seven advanced to the semi-finals. The 22-year-old Nataraj began his season with a gold medal clocking 55.60 seconds at the Singapore National Age Group in March. He followed it up with a time of 55.29 at the Mare Nostrum Swim Tour in Monaco in May.

In the 100m backstroke, Nataraj’s personal best of 53.77 seconds helped the Karnataka swimmer make the ‘A’ cut for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. He will compete in the 50m as well as 200m backstroke event in the ongoing World Championships. Two-time Olympian Sajan Prakash and Delhi swimmer Kushagra Rawat also failed to impress in their respective events. Prakash finished 57th among 91 swimmers in the 50m butterfly with a timing of 24.93s. He will challenge in his favorite event, 200m butterfly, on Tuesday. Rawat is competing only in the 400m freestyle event in this championship. He finished 35th with a timing of 3:59.03.

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