KIUG 2023: Swimmers give Jain University headstart; Utkal Varsity in second spot

Swimmer Shubhrant Patra clinched the men’s 200m butterfly gold with a dominating performance and then returned to help Jain University claim the 4x100m freestyle crown as they topped the medals standing in the 4th Khelo India University Games 2023 here on Tuesday.

Kalyani Saxena of Sarvajanik University, Surat and Danush S. of Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences also added a second gold to their tally on the second day of swimming competitions at the Dr. Zakir Hussain Aquatic Complex as the race for the overall title heats up.

With 32 gold medals decided in two days of competition, Jain University tops the standings with four gold, one silver and two bronze medals while Utkal University is second thanks to three gold medals from swimmer Pratyasa Ray, who added the women’s 200m backstroke gold to her tally on Tuesday.

Patra, who is originally from Odisha but now trains and studies in Bengaluru, bagged the 200m butterfly gold with a timing of 2:06.94s, finishing over half a second ahead of Chandigarh University’s Harsh Saroha. Shubham Dhaygude of Savitribai Phule University clinched the bronze with a time of 2:11.18s. He then returned to the pool for the 4x100m freestyle relay, swimming the third leg, as he teamed up with Xavier Dsouza, Dhyan Balakrishna and Sambhavv R. to bag the gold with a time of 3:37.76s. Anna University (3:39.35s) and the University of Kerala (3:41.65s) bagged the silver and bronze respectively.