Apeksha raises expectations!

The 17-year-old swimmer becomes the first Indian to qualify for finals at the FINA World Junior championship; aims at Asian Games, China

- MILIND DHAMDHERE

When 17-year-old Apeksha W Fernandes finished her preliminary round of the 200m butterfly event and was exiting the arena at the FINA World Junior Championship held in Lima Peru, she had a surprise waiting for her. With her brilliant timing in the round, she not only set a new national record of 2:18.18 but also got qualified for the final round. Thus, history was made, as she was the first Indian swimmer to achieve the feat.

"The preliminary round was the fastest and as I would always do, I checked my timings on the display and then made my way towards the exit of the competition pool. As I was on my way towards the training pool, the display showed the finalists for the event and I saw my name mentioned in it. I was taken aback with surprise and anticipation for the finals was the sensation I was thriving on,” said Apeksha while speaking with Sports Champ.

Though she couldn’t match her previous performance in the final and finished eighth in the women’s 200m butterfly finals by clocking 2:19.14s, she was happy with her performance.

“It was very unnerving to be standing in front of the entire world, racing with the finest junior swimmers, it was a learning experience for what it is like to race at such reputed meets,” she said.

Interestingly, the previous national record was set by Apeksha with a timing of 2:18.39s in June 2022. This time she bettered her performance by 0.65s.

Meanwhile, in men’s 200m freestyle heats, Vedaant Madhavan was disqualified due to a false start. Sambhavv Rama Rao also did not qualify for the eight-man final, he finished 27th overall in 1:55:71.

Interaction with champions