Srihari and Dhinidhi among the participants in National aquatics championships

Top swimmers of the country, including Paris Olympians Srihari Natraj and Dhinidhi Desinghu, Sajan Prakash, Aryaan Mehra, Kushagra Rawat, Shoan Ganguly and Hashika Ramachandra, will be seen in action in the National aquatics championships starting at the Kalinga Stadium Aquatic Centre here on Sunday.

While Dhinidhi will return to the Nationals after skipping the last edition, to prepare for the Olympics, Srihari will compete in only one event, 50m backstroke, as he will train for next month’s World University Games (WUG) in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany.

“The timing of the Nationals does not suit me as I am looking at peaking for the World University Games in two weeks. Had I competed in all five days, I would have lost a minimum of 10 days of training for the WUG,” said Srihari, who recently set the best Indian time for 200m freestyle.

Following a sensational performance of winning 11 medals, including nine gold, in the Uttarakhand National Games in January, Dhinidhi will be brimming with confidence.

Sajan, who made a comeback in the National Games after a break, wants to clock a sub-two-minute time in his main event, 200m butterfly.

The championship assumes importance as it will serve as the last qualifying event (before the cut-off date of June 29) for the World championships to be held in Singapore next month.

Besides, it will serve as a screening event for the selection of swimmers for the National camp leading up to the Asian championships to be held in Ahmedabad from October 1 to 15.