Aryan Makhija wins Gold in South Africa; sets new national record

Durban, South Africa, October 9: Indian swimmer Aryan Makhija claimed Gold in the 1500 m freestyle event (short course) at the Seagulls Winter Short Course Championship with a 15:21.99 finish in Durban, South Africa, on Saturday (October 7).

The time, which beats the previous Indian national record held by Sanu Debnath, set at the World Short Course Championships in 2014, is subject to ratification from the Swimming Federation of India.

“Aryan has been working really hard in training since the Youth Commonwealth Games and I’m very proud of what he’s achieved here. There’s a long way to go for this boy and I’m sure he will improve going forward in his career,” said Graham Hill, JSW Sports' Head Coach for swimming.

Seventeen-year-old Aryan finished 27.29 seconds ahead of second place Luan Grobbelaar (15.49.28) and 32.78 seconds ahead of Dante Nortje, who came in third with a time of 15.54.03. The finish beats Debnath’s short course (25 m pool) record of 16:05.63, which stood for over three years.

“Aryan’s hard work and determination is showing with results like these. He has been consistent in bettering his timings and we are confident he will go on to achieve bigger results for India in the swimming pool,” said Mustafa Ghouse, CEO, JSW Sports.

Makhija had claimed three medals at the South African Junior Nationals earlier this year, with his previous best time of 16:05.64, which had beaten the qualification standard set by the Swimming Federation of India for the Commonwealth Youth Games.