Sagar starts gold spree
Mahfizur Rahman Sagar's bid to winning eight gold medals in the 27th National Swimming Championships got off to a fantastic start as the promising swimmer of Bangladesh Navy produced a national record and grabbed two gold medals on the opening day at the Gopalganj Swimming Pool and Gymnasium Complex yesterday.
Sagar, who had set four national records in the 2013 Bangladesh Games in 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle and is the current holder of seven national records, rewrote his own record in 200m freestyle by clocking 1:59.13 minutes. The previous record was 2:00.56 minutes.
The 21-year-old swimmer also won the gold medal in the 50m backstroke along with Jewel Ahmed of Bangladesh Army. Participating in the event for the first time in the national meet, Sagar took only 29.00 seconds to finish the 50-metre distance.
“I am really happy to rewrite my own record even though I did not make a plan of creating any national record. But I have targeted eight gold medals and I have already bagged two today (Monday),” said Sagar.
Sagar's may face some competition in his pet event of 50m freestyle, an event he has been dominating since 2008, from his teammate Asif Reza who finished behind Sagar in 200m freestyle.
Sagar said he was shocked after swimming was excluded from the Asian Games contingent, but he shrugged off the frustration in style.
“Whether or not I get a further chance to compete in international level, I want to keep my performance in all domestic competitions as long as I'm active in pool,” Sagar informed over the phone after the competition.
Sagar's teammate Sonia Akter Tumpa also produced a new record in the women's 200m butterfly to eclipse Romana Akter's record of 2:44.15 minutes. Tumpa took 2:41.49 minutes to set the new record.
Despite Sagar and Tumpa's records, Bangladesh Navy (4 gold) could not topple Bangladesh Army, who have won five gold medals. Romana Akter of Army broke her own record in 400m individual medley at a time of 5:49.92 minutes, beating her previous best of 5:55.20 minutes.
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