Nepal’s Kalkin Shrestha set a new national record in the men’s 800m freestyle at the 11th Asian Aquatics Championship in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

Competing at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex, Shrestha clocked 9 minutes 12.62 seconds, breaking the previous record of 10 minutes 00.85 seconds set by Shirish Gurung at the NSA Cup in 2013. Atharva Singh also bettered Gurung’s mark with a time of 9 minutes 16.91 seconds.

The Nepali team of Abhibh Pradhan, Jaden Shrestha, Rewant Bahadur Shrestha, and Alvin Maharjan set another national record in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay, finishing in 3 minutes 47.73 seconds. They broke the 2024 BIMSTEC Aquatics Championship record of 3 minutes 48.57 seconds held in New Delhi.

In total, Nepali swimmers established four national records in the championship. Earlier, Singh had set new marks in the men’s 1,500m freestyle with 17 minutes 43.57 seconds and in the 400m individual medley with 4 minutes 58.34 seconds, surpassing two of Gurung’s long-standing records.