THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The 50-metre-long swimming pool in Kariavattom LNCPE had a serene appearance till Wednesday morning. But when swimmers in their groove hit waters, it created ripples of zest and sporting vibrancy which went unmatched. The first day of All-India Police Aquatic Meet ended on a high note, with Central police forces calling the shots. The heats of 100 m breaststroke, backstroke, freestyle and 800m freestyle were held in the morning. A vibrant crowd, including around 600 swimmers representing various State and Central forces, went all out in support of their teammates. The first uproar from the crowd exploded when Mandar Anand Rao of BSF tapped the finishing board in a flash in the 800-m freestyle. He had clocked a time of 08:59:92 outdoing all other competitors by a big difference. Manu BM of CRPF came second and Kalicharan Mahato of BSF finished third. The finals of other three events were held in the evening. Puneet Rana, the defending champion in 100 m breaststroke from Haryana state police, retained the title for the second consecutive year. Though he could not match his previous record, he still proved his mettle leaping across the pool in a hurry, leaving other competitors fighting for the second spot. Rohit Kumar and Deepak Kumar Singh of CRPF came second and third respectively. When the officials asked the participants to take their position for 100 m backstroke, all eyes were set on the BSF member and International swimmer Arjun Muralidharan. His teammate Subrata Nandi had given a tough fight to Arjun during the heats held before. But the feel of an upset win was thrashed as Arjun cruised to the finishing board, that too improving his previous record which was set seven years ago. He clocked the new record time of 1:01:40. Subrata Nandi grabbed silver and Satheesh Kumar of CISF won bronze. The final event was 100m freestyle, the darling event of a swimming competition. Rohit Kumar of CRPF won the gold while his team member Surya P Sharma bagged silver. The bronze medal was won by Vinay Krishna of BSF.Top police officers, including DGP Jacob Punnoose, ADGP Mahesh Kumar Singla, IG S Gopinath and Rural SP A Akbar distributed the medals. The event will conclude on October 23.
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