PANAJI
Sanjana Manguesh Prabhugaonker’s silver medal was the only saving grace for Goa at the 78th Senior National Aquatic Championships held at Bhubaneshwar, Odisha from 22 – 26 June 2025.
Unlike previous edition, wherein the Goan squad returned home empty handed despite having a nine-member squad, this time it was only a two-member team comprising of Sanjana Manguesh Prabhugaonker and Shrungi Rajesh Bandekar that represented Goa during the five-day championship.
Both Sanjana and Shrungi, who trains in Bengaluru, are Goa’s established swimmers having won several national medals in the past.
However, this time around only Sanjana could bag silver in women's 50m backstroke with a timing of 30.68 seconds.
Both Sanjana and Shrungi tried their level best to finish on the podium, but closely missed out on winning a medal in other events they participated.
In women's 100m backstroke and 200m backstroke, Sanjana finished seventh and eighth respectively with a timing of 1 minute 07.40 seconds and 2 minutes 33.78 seconds. Sanjana also participated in women’s 200m freestyle but could manage to finish eleventh overall with a timing of 2 minutes 13.96 seconds.
On the other hand, Shrungi narrowly missed out on winning a medal in women's 400m medley and 200m medley as she finished fourth and fifth respectively with a timing of 5 minutes 15.52 seconds and 2 minutes 29.78 seconds respectively.
In women’s 200m backstroke, Shrungi narrowly failed to qualify for the finals as she finished ninth overall with a timing of 2 minutes 29.27 seconds. Only top-8 swimmers in heats qualify for the finals.
Goa finished 14th overall on the medal tally with a solitary silver. This was Goa’s first swimming medal at the senior nationals since 2023. Goa had failed to win any medal in swimming during 2025 Uttarakhand National Games and 2024 Senior National Swimming Championship held at Mangaluru, Karnataka.
