CWG 2026: Karthik Budigina, Ali Imam enter para swimming final; Srihari Nataraj advances to backstroke semis

According to ESPN, the 18-year-old Budigina produced an impressive swim in his Commonwealth Games debut, clocking 57.10 seconds to finish third in the men's 100m freestyle S13 heats. The visually impaired swimmer was fourth at the turn before producing a strong finish to move up into the top three.

Great Britain's Stephen Clegg topped the heats in 56.57 seconds, leaving Budigina just 0.53 seconds off the fastest qualifying time.

Budigina, regarded as one of India's brightest para swimming prospects, switched to the sport from rowing during the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued his rapid rise since making the transition.

Ali Imam, another Commonwealth Games debutant, also progressed to the final despite finishing last in the heats with a time of 1:05.32. Imam competes internationally in the S12 classification but raced in the S13 event, with all eight swimmers in the field advancing to the medal race scheduled for later on Thursday.

India also had reason to celebrate in the swimming pool as Srihari Nataraj qualified for the semifinals of the men's 50m backstroke, as per ESPN.

The Olympian finished fifth in Heat 4 with a time of 25.52 seconds, which placed him 14th overall across the five heats and was enough to secure one of the semifinal spots.

Nataraj had entered the Games after meeting the qualification standard of 25.39 seconds and will look to improve on his heat performance in the semifinal later in the evening.

South Africa's Pietr Coetze set the pace in the heats with a time of 24.45 seconds, finishing 1.07 seconds faster than the Indian.

India will now have three swimmers in action in the evening session, with Budigina and Imam chasing medals in the para swimming final before Nataraj returns to the pool aiming to book a place in the men's 50m backstroke final. (ANI)