VoteUpIndia

Indian swimming on Monday made Commonwealth Games history when the quartet of Virdhawal Khade, Anshul Kothari, Arjun Jayaprakash and Aaron D’Souza finished sixth to make the cut in men’s 4x100m freestyle relay. India also qualified for the semifinals when Badrinath Melkote (men’s 50m backstroke)
and Shubha Chittaranjan (women’s 50m butterfly) finished 14th and 16th in their respective events.

Led by its biggest hope, Khade, the Indian team clocked 3:28.06s at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Aquatics Complex to make its maiden cut in the event.

Excited at the results, national chief coach S Pradeep Kumar said that the boys have made history.

“This is really fantastic. We have made history by reaching the final for the first time in Commonwealth competition,” Pradeep said.

Realistically, he said, it would be tough in the final, scheduled as the day’s last event.

“Our timing is not good enough to earn a podium finish. It will be difficult in the final. However, we should aim for a fourth-place finish, which will be good for the relay team.”

Timing wise, the Indian quartet finished 12.87s behind preliminary round toppers — the Australian team of Kyle Morgan Richardson, Cameron Colin Prosser, James Magnussen and Tommaso William D’Orsogna.

The Aussies swam 3:15.18s to top the prelims ahead of Englishmen (Ross Paul Davenport, Simon Andrew Burnett, Grant Turner and Adam Thorp Brown) who clocked 3:17.60.

The South Africans (Darian Roy Townsend, Chad Guy Dertrand Le Clos, Gideon Abraham Louw and Graeme John Moore) finished third with a timing of 3:18.94s.

It will be an interesting final when the South African 4x100m freestyle relay team — the defending Commonwealth Games Champions and the 2004 Olympic gold medallists — take the pool in the evening.

The team, incidentally, will be bolstered by Olympian and 50m freestyle world record holder Roland Schoeman in the final.

The youngest Indian to qualify for Beijing Olympics 2008, at 15 years, Khade was the best among the Indian quartet as he swam with 50.71s — more than two seconds shy of James Magnussen (48.24s) of Australia, the best among the qualifiers.

Melkote clocked 27.52 in lane two to finish 14th in the men’s 50m backstroke in which England’s world record holder Liam Tancock was the fastest in the heats with 25.47.
[Story Source] [Contest win Rs 1000-100,000 now]

This post was submitted by mudit agarwal.