Aryan Nehra grabbed headlines after he equalled the ‘best Indian time’ in the 800m freestyle event at the swimming World Championships on Tuesday at Fukuoka in Japan.
His timing of 8:00.76s saw him match that of Advait Page, the previous best by an Indian. His effort also saw him better his personal best of 8:01.81, which he clocked earlier in July during the swimming nationals in Hyderabad. He also set new meet records in 400m (3:52.55) and 1500m (15:29.76), which was also his personal best.
However, his herculean effort at the World Championship was not enough to qualify for the finals as he finished 27th in the heats while only the top eight progressed to the final round.
MORE: Satwik-Chirag win Korea Open 2023
Who is Aryan Nehra?
Nehra is a 19-year-old from Ahmedabad. He grew up playing a variety of sports including tennis, golf, rink skating, and a bit of football.
He started swimming as he wanted to learn it as a survival skill and soon fell in love with the sport. Since he started doing well in it and winning competitions from the very beginning, it wasn't too long before he shifted focus completely on swimming.
What is Aryan Nehra's pet event in swimming?
Nehra competes in the 800m and the 1500m freestyle events but considers the latter as his pet event.
“I lean towards 1500, it’s what I’ve been the best at. I’m trying to think of the right words – it’s not high maintenance, but it’s just harder to get right," he told Indian Express.
"It’s such a difficult and long event that if I swim it 5 or 6 times in a season I’m probably not gonna have as many great and amazing 1500s as I will 400s or 800s. So, it’s a little annoying in that way.
“Also, you swim for 15 minutes or 16 minutes and you find out you don’t have a Personal Best, so it sucks in that sense. But it’s what I’ve always been best at and we’ll find out when we get to World Championships and Asian Games which one I’m better at now. But in the past. it’s always been the 1500."
Who is Aryan Nehra's coach?
Nehra trains at the University of Florida where he is part of the Collegiate team. He is coached by Anthony Nesty who is an Olympic champion (1988) from Seoul.
Where does Aryan Nehra think he can improve?
Nehra believes that he has room for improvement during the turns which happens to be around 29 in 1500m and 15 over 800m.
"Throughout my swimming that’s what everyone points out, definitely turns are my weakest point and especially for someone who swims long distances I need to do a lot of them, I get told a lot. I’m better at it than I used to be I’ve been told as well. But they are nowhere near world-class, that’s definitely the biggest and most obvious area for improvement as far as my swim goes as of now,” he said.
What next for Aryan Nehra?
Nehra will next compete in his pet 1500m at the World Championship at Fukuoka on Saturday.
MORE: Latest swimming odds and betting
