Swimmer Makhija sets new national record

Durban: India's Aryan Makhija claimed gold in the boys' 1500 metre freestyle event at the Seagulls Winter Short Course Championship here.

His time of 15 minutes and 21.99 seconds, which beats the previous Indian national record held by Sanu Debnath, set at the World Short Course Championships in 2014, is subject to ratification from the Swimming Federation of India.

Saturday evening's race saw the 17-year-old from India finish 27.29 seconds ahead of second placed Luan Grobbelaar (15.49.28) and 32.78 seconds ahead of Dante Nortje, who came in third with a time of 15.54.03.

The finish beats Debnath's short course (25m pool) record of 16:05.63, which stood for over three years.

Makhija had claimed three medals at the South African Junior Nationals earlier this year, with his previous best time of 16:05.64, which had beaten the qualification standard set by the Swimming Federation of India for the Commonwealth Youth Games.