Para swimmer Niranjan Mukundan sets Asian record in 200 metre backstroke

Meet the new Asian para champion in 200 metre backstroke! Its Bengaluru’s Niranjan Mukundan who set the record at the Para Swimming World Series 2018 in Berlin.

Niranjan clocked 3:16.01 seconds while covering the distance, beating the previous record held by Vietnam’s Van Chung of 4:02.49 seconds. The Vietnam swimmer had set the record back in 2003 in the S7 category.

For the 23-year-old, the win was unexpected and even sweeter as he has been struggling with injuries for the last few months. Niranjan had even stopped swimming for nearly eight months after back-to-back injuries. So this record is a major boost.

There are 20 swimmers from India at the event accompanied by national coach John Christopher. The meet will end on Monday.

Niranjan will now contest in the 50m butterfly and 400m freestyle events in Berlin in the next couple of days.

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