Nahid breaks Ahmed’s 17-year-old record

Mahmudunnabi Nahid broke a record that stood for the past 17 years, clocking in at 25.69 seconds in the 50m butterfly event of the Bangabandhu 31st National Swimming, Diving and Water Polo Championships at the Syed Nazrul Islam National Swimming Complex in Mirpur yesterday.

The previous mark of 25.74 seconds was set by Jewel Ahmed in 2005.

Nahid -- also a part of Bangladesh Navy's 4x100 freestyle relay team that broke a record on the opening day of ongoing championships -- finished well ahead of the others. Anik Islam of Bangladesh Navy won silver with a time of 26.10 seconds (hand-time) while Titu Miah of Bangladesh Army bagged bronze with a time of 26.70 seconds.

Nahid believes he was reaping the rewards of the hard work in the national camp since November.

"I was confident I could make a national record. I think this record should have been broken much earlier,"Nahid told reporters.

"I know my time is not good enough for a gold in the South Asian Games. But if the national camp continues going as it is, I believe I can improve," Nahid, who won bronze in the last SA Games in Kathmandu, added.

Former record-holder Jewel Ahmed shared the opinion that the record should have been broken earlier. "As new records were being set year after year, I wondered who would break mine," Jewel said.

Four other national records were broken on the second day of the championships by Kajal Mia (200m individual medley), Jewel Ahmed (200m backstroke), Juthi Akhter (200m backstroke) and Sadi Mohammad Mohsin (one-meter springboard).