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Indian swimmers Srihari Nataraj and Dhinidhi Desinghu were eliminated from the men's 100m backstroke and women's 200m freestyle events respectively at the Paris Olympics 2024. A top-16 finish was required for qualification to the semi-final but the Indian duo had to settle for a 33rd (Nataraj) and 23rd finish (Desinghu).
The Indian swimmers secured Olympic qualifications through Universality Quota. The Universality Quota allows nations to suggest their two highest-ranked swimmers for the Summer Games if no one manages to qualify through the regulation process.
Talking about the Indian duo's performance in Paris, Srihari Nataraj finished 33rd in the overall standings with a timing of 55.01 in the men's 100m backstroke. Whereas the 14-year-old Desinghu had to settle for a 23rd finish in the overall standings with a timing of 02:06.96.
After the Olympics, Nataraj, in an interview, spoke about taking a break and preparing for the World Championships. Speaking to Sportstar, Nataraj said, "I’m planning to take a short break after the Olympics. I haven’t yet planned my schedule for the season following the Games. I intend to get a tattoo, possibly featuring the Olympic rings and a few others."
"As swimmers, we can’t immediately get into the water right after getting a tattoo; we need some time off, which I haven’t had recently. I haven’t planned anything after, I know there’s a World Championships (25m) and am yet to decide if I want to swim that or not."
