Asian Games swimming: R Madhavan's son misses final; Srihari Nataraj finishes 10th
Indian swimmers, including Srihari Nataraj and Vedaant Madhavan, failed to secure medals or reach finals at the 2026 Asian Games in Tokyo. Despite some personal best performances, the team struggled against strong competition from China and South Korea.
Why it matters
The results highlight the current performance gap between Indian swimmers and top-tier Asian competitors on the international stage.
India's swimmers had another disappointing day at the Asian Games on Monday, with two-time Olympian Srihari Nataraj finishing 10th in the men's 50m backstroke final, while Vedaant Madhavan, son of actor R Madhavan, missed out on the men's 4x200m freestyle relay final.Swimming events at the Asian Games 2026 are being held at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Tokyo.Nataraj clocked 25.52 seconds in the final to finish last, slower than his 25.37-second effort in the heats earlier in the day.The 25-year-old had qualified for the final after clocking 25.37 seconds, the same time as Iran's Homer Abbasi, to finish third in his heat and joint ninth overall.Competing in his third Asian Games, Nataraj has a personal best of 25.18 seconds in the event, which he set in Belgrade in June 2021.China's Jiayu Xu won the gold medal and set a new Asian Games record with a time of 24.04 seconds.
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