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Karnataka’s teenage swimming prodigy Dhinidhi Desinghu stole the spotlight at the National Games 2025, clinching three gold medals and setting a new national record on Wednesday, January 29 at Manaskhand Tarantal in Golapur, Uttarakhand.
The 14-year-old sensation delivered a record-breaking performance in the women’s 200m freestyle, clocking 2:03.24 to surpass her own national record of 2:04.24, which she had set at the 2023 national championships. Delhi’s Bhavya Sachdeva (2:08.68) and Maharashtra’s Aditi Satish Hegde (2:09.74) finished second and third, respectively.
Desinghu, who was the youngest Indian athlete at the Paris 2024 Olympics, continued her dominant run by adding two more gold medals on swimming’s opening day.
She went on to claim victory in the 100m butterfly, finishing first with a time of 1:03.62. Naisha Shetty (1:04.81) and Shristi Upadhaya (1:05.20) secured silver and bronze, respectively. The Karnataka swimmer then joined hands with Nina Venkatesh, Shalini R Dixit, and Latiesha Mandana to win the women's 4x100m freestyle relay. The quartet clocked 4:01.58, edging out Maharashtra (4:02.17) and Tamil Nadu (4:08.81) to secure the top spot.
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National Games 2025: Dhinidhi Desinghu helps Karnataka lead the medal tally
Dhinidhi Desinghu’s triple gold haul propelled Karnataka to the top of the medal tally with five golds and two silvers, closely followed by Manipur (four golds and four silvers).
Adding to Karnataka’s dominance was Paris Olympian Srihari Nataraj, who claimed gold in the men’s 200m freestyle, clocking 1:50.57 to outpace Karnataka teammate Aneesh S Gowda (1:52.42) and Tokyo Olympian Kerala’s Sajan Prakash (1:53.73).
Nataraj also led the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay team, comprising Gowda, Akash Mani, and Chinatan S Shetty, to a National Games record time of 3:26.26, securing Karnataka’s fifth gold of the day. Tamil Nadu (3:29.92) and Gujarat (3:32.23) finished second and third, respectively.
