Indian swimmer Srihari Nataraj entered the semi-finals of the men’s 50 metre backstroke event at the 21st Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast on Saturday.
Srihari recorded a time of 26.47 seconds to qualify in the ninth spot among 16 qualifiers in his category.
The Indian finished third in Heat 1 behind Australia's Mitch Larkin and Xavier Castelli of Wales. Larkin had a time of 25.32 seconds while Castelli registered 25.91.
Zac Incerti of Australia qualified at the top of the overall standings by winning Heat 2 with a time of 25.05 seconds.
Larkin was second overall while Benjamin Treffers -- also from Australia -- was third with 25.52.
Treffers won Heat 3 ahead of Conor Ferguson (25.79) of Northern Ireland and Malaysia's Jian Han Tern (25.83).
During the event, the lad from Bengaluru broke the national record with his 26.47-second effort. He improved on his own mark of 26.58 seconds set in the National championship in Bhopal on 8 October 2017. It was Srihari’s third national record in as many starts, having improved his 100 m backstroke mark twice on 5 April.
Not for the first time in these Games, Seventeen-year-old Srihari broke the national record in the men’s 100 m backstroke category twice on the opening day of the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast on Thursday. But, he didn’t qualify for the event final.