Para swimmer Shams Aalam creates national record while fasting; clinches 3 medals at National Para Swimming Championships

Para swimmer Shams Aalam, hailing from Bihar, secured a gold, silver, and bronze medal in the 23rd Senior National Para Swimming Championships, which concluded on Sunday, March 31, in Gwalior.

Interestingly, Aalam was observing a strict fast during the three-day competition. He went on to create a national record by securing the gold medal in 200 meters Individual Medley by clocking 4:35.83.

Furthermore, he clinched a silver medal in the 100-meter butterfly S5, recording his personal best of 2:14.50. Additionally, he secured a bronze medal in the 50-meter freestyle with another personal best of 50.33.

He went on to express his gratitude to Bihar Government, the Indian Sports Authority, Gandhi Nagar, CBM India Trust, Ravindran Shankaran (IPS), DGP BSSA, Para Sports Association Bihar, Paralympic Committee of India, Dr. VK Dubey Coach Reena Das, Conditioning Coach, Masseur Rahul Nirvan, Physiotherapist, and support staff for their support in this successful event and his training.

He took to X (formerly Twitter) in joy, writing:

"Finishing off 23rd National Para Swimming Championship Gwalior. 1 Gold with New National Record in 200 IM SM5 , 1 silver and 1 bronze."

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Niranjan Mukundan bags a whopping 5 medals

Moving into other details of the tournament, Bengaluru-born para swimmer Niranjan Mukundan secured five medals - four gold and one silver in the 23rd Senior National Para Swimming Championships.

He took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his happiness after securing multiple medals in the campaign. He represented team Karnataka in the tournament. With reference to Indian Premier League franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Virat chant ‘Ee sala cup Namde’, Niranjan wrote:

“Finishing off the National Swimming Championships with 4 golds and 1 silver. Team Karnataka also finishing at the top of the table becoming the overall champions. So wanted to say “EE SALA CUP NAMDU” From para swimming team Karnataka!”

Overall, Karnataka bagged the most medals in the event while Maharashtra secured the second in the tally, with Bengali swimmers clinching the third position in the points table. A total of 21 teams took part in the competition, with most of them representing the states.