Karnataka CM felicitates Olympic-bound swimmer Srihari Nataraj

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Wednesday felicitated swimmer Srihari Nataraj along with his mother.

The Chief Minister in the presence of Minister of Youth Empowerment and Sports, Dr Narayana Gowda and Additional Chief Secretary to Government, Dr Shalini Rajneesh felicitated Nataraj along with his mother and gave a cheque of Rs 10 lakhs to him. His coach Nihar Ameen was also honored in the function.

Nataraj had become the second Indian swimmer to qualify for Tokyo Olympics after his 53.77 seconds effort in the 100m Backstroke event in a time trial at the Settecolli Swim Meet here in Rome was ratified, informed the Sports Authority of India (SAI).

The Olympic qualification time (A time) for the 100m Backstroke event was set at 53.85 seconds.

Earlier, Sajan Prakash became the first Indian swimmer to qualify for the upcoming Olympics as he clocked 1:56:38 in men's 200m butterfly at the Sette Colli Trophy. The qualification cut-off was 1:56:48.

This is the very first time that two Indian swimmers have earned automatic qualification for the Olympics.

"@srihari3529 becomes the 2nd Indian #swimmer to qualify for #Tokyo2020 His timing of 53.77 in a men's 100m backstroke time trial in Rome last week has been ratified. The qualification mark was 53.85. Many congratulations! #Cheer4India," the SAI Media had tweeted.

( With inputs from ANI )

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