Lalitpur, July 19

Kiran Karki set a new national record, while fellow Tribhuvan Army Club swimmer Shirish Gurung won four gold medals on the opening day of the 21st Open National and Age-group Swimming Competition here at the International Sports Complex pool today.

Karki completed the 50m breaststroke event in 32.81 seconds breaking the previous best of 32.82 held by Shailesh SJB Rana set during the fifth Pramod Memorial Championship in 2009. Shuvam Shrestha came second in 33.32, while another TAC swimmer Rupesh Chaudhary was third in 36.88 seconds.

Although Karki broke the national record, TAC swimmer Gurung stole the limelight winning four gold medals. Gurung, who has been selected for next month’s Rio Olympic Games, won the 200m IM gold with the timing of two minutes and 34.44 seconds, beating DAV’s Anubhav Subba (2:39.47) and SVI’s Devesh Manandhar (2:42.45).

Gurung added second gold of the day when he came first in 100m butterfly event in one minute and 09.87 seconds, finishing ahead of Subba abd Bhisma Baduwal.  Gurung won the 100m free style gold in 59.88 seconds and Manandhar and Subba were again second and third. Gurung, Manandhar and Subba claimed the top three spots in 200m backstroke.

Bhisma Baduwal was another TAC swimmer who bagged gold medal on the first day, winning men’s 50m butterfly event in 30.50 seconds. Dilip Thapa Magar, also of TAC, came second in 30.60s, while Devesh Manandhar of SVI was third in 31.46.

In women’s section, Sofia Shah of Lincoln School claimed three gold medals, while Sonira Bista of TAC won two. Shah won the 100m freestyle in one minute and 04.22 seconds and added the 200m free gold in 2:23.19. She then added the third in 50m butterfly, winning the event in 33.22 seconds. Bista bagged the 50m and 200m breaststroke golds. She won the 50m race in 39.69 seconds, while she completed the 200m event in 3:27.53.