IPC World Swimming Championships: Sharath Gayakwad finishes on a high

Sharath Gayakwad (left)

Speedo athlete and ace Paralympic swimmer Sharath Gayakwad finished 14th in the 50m Freestyle Finals, S8 category, at the IPC World Swimming Championships in Montreal, Canada on Sunday. Sharath, who was seen sporting the Speedo Fastskin 3 Racing System, clocked a time of 30.02 seconds at the event held on last day of the week-long Championships.

At the event, Russian Denis Tarasov created a World Record by clocking a time of 25.81 seconds, lapping up the Gold medal. Fellow Russian swimmer, Konstantin Lisenkov, with a timing of 26.71 seconds won a Silver medal and French swimmer Charles Rozoy settled for a Bronze with a timing of 27.72 seconds.

Speedo’s star athlete Sharath Gayakwad, who was also India’s sole representative at the Swimming World Championships organised by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), had participated in 200m Individual Medley, 100m Breastsroke, 100m Butterfly and 50m Freestyle competitions.

He began his campaign at Montreal with the 200m Individual Medley clocking a time of 2:03.79 minutes, which earned him the 10th position. At his second event, the 100m Breastsroke, Sharath finished 7th with a timing of 1:18.81 minutes. Having missed the 100m Butterfly, he returned on the last day of the Championships, finishing 14th at the 50m Freestyle.

Sharath is all set to return to Bangalore on 20th August, 2013.