Pratyasa Ray, the most decorated swimmer of Odisha, won the first medal for the state in the 79th Senior National Aquatic Championships at Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Ahmedabad, Gujarat today. She secured the bronze medal in womens 50m backstroke, clocking a personal best of 30.59 seconds on the second day of the six-day championships.

Suvana C Baskar (Karnataka) won the gold medal with a time of 29.85 seconds, while Jiya Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) claimed the silver medal, clocking 30.27 seconds. Bhubaneswar swimmer Pratyasa, who trains at Odisha IIS-JSW Swimming High Performance Centre, Kalinga Stadium, will be vying for medals in two more events _ 100m and 200m backstroke.

An international medallist, Pratyasa bagged one silver and two bronze medals in the previous edition of the Senior National Aquatics Championship, held at Aquatic Centre, Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar from 22-26 June 2025. Host Odisha finished seventh in that National championship with a total of six medals, which featured one gold, two silver and three bronze.
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PHOTO: Odisha ace Pratyasa Ray poses with her 50m backstroke bronze medal at the 79th Senior National Aquatic Championships in Ahmedabad on 17 June 2026.