Kolkata: Bengal established itself as the undisputed powerhouse of Indian finswimming as they clinched the overall champion title at the 5th National Finswimming Championship that concluded at the International Swimming Pool, Yemmekera in Mangalore. This was Bengal's fifth consecutive national championship triumph which is a record in Indian finswimming history.
The Bengal contingent delivered a dominant performance to top the medals tally with 568 points, winning a whopping 165 medals, including 61 gold, 59 silver and 45 bronze medals. Karnataka finished as runners-up with 248 points, while Uttar Pradesh secured third place with 78 points.
Bengal's Ronit Das emerged as one of the top male individual performers, winning four gold medals in the Junior ‘C' category, contributing 20 points to Bengal's tally. Sampriya Kundu dominated the Junior ‘C' women's category, also securing four gold medals and 20 points. Aheli Saha excelled in the Senior ‘A' women's category, bagging four gold medals. In the masters category, Bengal's Ritu Banerjee delivered a stellar performance by winning four gold medals in Master ‘V0' category.
Srinjan Nath was impressive in the Junior ‘D' category returning with three gold and one silver medal, while Angshuman Nag added two gold and two silver medals in Junior ‘E'.
The Bengal swimmers mainly did well across surface, bi-fins, apnea and relay events.