India's campaign at the Swimming World Championships in Singapore has concluded without any swimmers advancing past the initial heats, marking a disappointing end to the competition. Shoan Ganguly's performance in the men's 400m individual medley saw him finish in 28th place, thereby ending India's run at the event.
Ganguly, a 20-year-old swimmer from Karnataka, clocked a time of 4:30.40s in the 400m individual medley. This was short of the mark needed to qualify for the eight-man final and also slower than his own 'Best Indian Time' of 4:24.64s, which he had set at the national championships in June. At the nationals, this performance earned him a gold medal.
Earlier in the week, Ganguly also participated in the 200m individual medley, where he finished 38th overall. He clocked 2:05.40s in that event.
The World Aquatics Championships featured six Indian male swimmers. Besides Ganguly, the list included Aryan Nehra (400m and 800m freestyle), Kushagra Rawat (1500m freestyle), Sajan Prakash (200m butterfly and 200m freestyle), Likhit SP (50m and 100m breaststroke), and Rohit Benedicton (50m and 100m butterfly).
Throughout the championships, Indian swimmers struggled to make an impact, with none managing to progress beyond their respective heats or achieve their personal best times.
Meanwhile, in the men's 200m individual medley, reigning Olympic champion Leon Marchand of France topped the heats with a time of 1:57.63s. Marchand also set a new world record in the 200 individual medley earlier in the week. Australia's David Schlicht (1:59.50) was the last swimmer to make the semifinals.
The Indian swimming contingent will look to regroup and analyze their performance at the World Championships to identify areas for improvement and prepare for future international competitions.