Indian swimmer, Apeksha Fernandes became the first Indian woman to qualify for the Jr. World finals by finishing eighth overall with a timing of 2:18.18, setting a new national record. She achieved this milestone in the women’s 200m Butterfly at the 8th edition of the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships 2022 on Wednesday.
Swimming sensation Apeksha Fernandes becomes the 1st Indian woman to make the Jr. World Finals ! 🏊♂️ 🇮🇳
Apeksha makes the 200 m Butterfly finals of Junior World champ'ship after finishing 8th overall with time 2:18:18 at Peru. 🤩🏆
India wishes her best for finals tomorrow! 💪 pic.twitter.com/QWGSpX8Ght
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) August 31, 2022
Swimmer, Srihari Nataraj is the only other Indian to have qualified for the finals at the World Juniors who finished sixth in the 50m backstroke swimming category in 2019.
Fernandes finished fourth in the heats with a timing of 2:18:18, and overall placed 8th to earn her place in the final. With this timing, she created a new national record and broke her previous best record of 2:18:39, set at the Junior Nationals held in June 2022.
If heats of the nationals are counted, then Apeksha has now broken seven national records in her last 11 races. She will also be seen competing in the 100m Butterfly and 100m Backstroke events in the coming days of the competition.
-- Advertisement --Unfortunately, Vedaant Madhavan was disqualified in the men’s 200m freestyle heats due to a false start. On the other hand, Sambhavv Rama Rao did not qualify for the eight-man final as he finished 27th overall with a timing of 1:55.71.
