Khelo India Tribal Games 2026: Karnataka’s Manikanta L Win 8 Gold Medals In Swimming, Eyes Asian Games Qualification

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Khelo India Tribal Games 2026: Swimmer Manikanta L won eight gold and one silver at the inaugural Khelo India Tribal Games 2026 in Raipur and now targets Asian Games 2026 qualification in the 200m breaststroke. The 21-year-old from Karnataka raced across all four strokes over four days.

Competing at the international pool in Raipur, he entered nine events and claimed six individual and two relay gold medals. He also took silver in the 50m freestyle, finishing behind Karnataka team-mate Dhoonesh M in his last race on Day 3.

Manikanta is a breaststroke specialist but chose to swim breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly, and freestyle in Raipur. He said to SAI Media that switching strokes was hard as every race needed a different plan, and the short gaps between events added more pressure.

There were just six races per day at the Games. Manikanta took part in almost every alternate race on the first three days and also attended medal ceremonies between swims. He said his abs felt tight in the 50m freestyle, which slowed him down.

He had earlier won four gold medals at the Khelo India University Games in Jaipur this year. Those included two individual and two relay golds. In Jaipur, he swam only the breaststroke leg in relays, and his individual wins came in 200m and 100m breaststroke.

Manikanta comes from Davangiri and trains at the Basavanagudi Aquatic Centre in Bengaluru under coach Rajeev R.S. He first focused on butterfly, but a 2019 shoulder injury led coach Sinjo to move him to breaststroke. His uncle Manjunath, a national swimmer, drew him to the sport.

He has over 20 medals from different Khelo India events and owns two silver and one bronze at senior nationals. He is rated India’s second-best swimmer in 200m breaststroke, behind Tamil Nadu’s Dhanush S, and now wants to focus only on that event.

Manikanta aims to reach the Asian Games 2026 squad in the 200m breaststroke. He knows he must close the gap on the qualifying mark. He said he has trained hard for two months and believes steady work can help him reach the needed level.

He also hopes his swimming results can help him secure a job in the Karnataka Police department in future. Manikanta said competing in many events is too hard on the body and now wants to protect his main race instead of adding more strokes.

Race times and records

Medal record at recent events