Aryan Nehra equals ‘best Indian time’ in 800m freestyle at World Championships

Teenage swim sensation Aryan Nehra equalled the ‘best Indian time’ to finish 27th in the 800m freesyle event at the swimming World Championships here on Tuesday.

The 19-year-old clocked a personal best 8:00.76 in the heats to match Advait Page’s ‘best Indian time’.

With Tuesday’s swim, Aryan improved his personal best of 8:01.81, which he had clocked earlier this month at the Nationals in Hyderabad.

Aryan, however, failed to advance to the final as only top eight swimmers from the heats qualify.

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The teenager from Gujarat is in the middle of a purple patch. He went on a record-breaking spree at the Nationals, winning four gold medals and notching up as many national records.

Aryan will also compete in the 1500m freestyle event later this week.

In swimming, timing is considered a national record when it has been achieved at the National Aquatic Championships.

Hence, the timings clocked in other meets are called the ‘best Indian time’.

The other Indian swimmer in action on Tuesday, Sajan Prakash, finished 23rd in 200m butterfly with timing of 1:58:07.

The 29-year-old Kerala swimmer has a personal best of 1:56:38 in the event.

The two-time Olympian’s campaign thus came to an end. He had finished 57th among 91 swimmers in the 50m butterfly.