A quartet of Nepali swimmers set a new national record in the 4x100 metre freestyle relay at the recent 11th Asian Aquatics Championship in Ahmedabad, India.

The team comprising Aviv Pradhan, Jaden Shrestha, Revanta Bahadur Shrestha and Alvin Maharjan clocked an impressive 3 minutes 47.73 seconds at the event on October 1.

They bettered the previous national record of 3 minutes 48.57 seconds, which was set during the 2024 BIMSTEC Aquatics Championship in New Delhi, India.

The four swimmers are students of Nisarga Batika School and have been training and competing together for several years. The school has been investing handsomely in swimming. They had organised the 11th edition of Nisarga Inter-School Swimming Championship on September 6 and 7.

Meanwhile, of the six teams—India, Chinese Taipei, the Philippines, Thailand, Turkmenistan and Nepal—in the event’s Heat 1, Nepal, despite setting a national record, finished last and could not progress further.

Nepal’s gap with India, the team finishing first in Heat 1, was 19.41 seconds. Nepali swimmers had participated across 32 events in the championship. However, none could win a medal.

Only 13 out of the 25 participating nations clinched medals in the tournament. China topped the medal tally with 50 medals—38 gold, 9 silver and 3 bronze. They were followed by Japan with 20 medals (5 gold, 11 silver, 4 bronze) and Kazakhstan with 18 medals (7 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze). India, the hosts, finished 11th with 13 medals (4 silver, 9 bronze).