Pokhara, September 23

Nepal APF Club’s Devesh Manandhar and Venissa Jaywick of Poland won the titles of the seventh National Open Swimming Tournament here at the Fewa Lake today.

Manandhar clocked 21 minutes, 4.01 second to cover the 2.5km distance in the men’s category. His APF teammate Subham Shrestha finished second with the timing of 21 minutes and 4.07 seconds, while Tribhuvan Army Club’s Rudra Katuwal took 21 minutes and 50.96 seconds to win bronze. Manandhar got Rs 25,000, while Shrestha and Katuwal received Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively.

In women’s category, Jaywick finished the distance in 25 minutes and 0.34 seconds to win the gold medal, while Upasti Maharjan finished second in 25 minutes and 47.31 seconds and Anushka Pokharel came third in 26 minutes and 56.92 seconds.

Among the local swimmers, Dhanman Gurung won gold medal with the timing of 27 minutes and 31.50 seconds, while Arjun Nepali took 31 minutes and 50.99 seconds to win silver and Dipendra Khadka covered the distance in 36 minutes and 29.25 seconds to finish third. Top three swimmers in women and local categories received Rs 8,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 3,000 respectively.

A total of 140 swimmers including two foreigners took part in the competition organised by Kaski District Swimming Association under the aegis of Nepal Swimming Association.