World Aquatics Swimming World Championships (25m) 2024: Hashika Ramachandra, Akash Mani fail to make a splash

India’s Hashika Ramachandra and Akash Mani failed to progress beyond the heats in their respective events at the World Aquatics Swimming World Championships (25m) 2024 in Budapest.

Only two Indian swimmers competed at the World Short Course Swimming Championships, scheduled from December 10 to 15.

On Tuesday, the 16-year-old Hashika Ramachandra finished 39th among 41 swimmers in the women’s 400m freestyle heats with only the top eight qualifying for the final. She clocked 4:30.30, well short of her national record time of 4:24.70, set earlier this year.

However, her personal best would have only allowed her to climb four places in the heat with the top-eight cut off at 4:02.03.

Later on Thursday, Hashika Ramachandra finished 30th out of 31 in the 200m butterfly with a time of 2:25.88 with only the top eight progressing to the final. The national record is 2:18.66 while the eighth swimmer – Bella Grant of Australia – in Budapest clocked 2:05.53.

Akash Mani, meanwhile, started his campaign on Tuesday in the men’s 100m backstroke, where he finished 45th out of 54 in the heats with a time of 54.05. The national record of 53.77 belongs to Srihari Nataraj, who set the benchmark three years ago. Only the top 16 qualified for the semi-finals, with a cut-off of 50.81.

On Thursday, Akash Mani finished 46th among 51 swimmers in the 50m backstroke and failed to progress. The 17-year-old Indian, however, timed 24.87 to register a new national record.