Indian swimmer Srihari Nataraj missed out on the men’s 50m backstroke final at the Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow on Friday, with the two-time Olympian finishing 11th overall in the semis to fall short of the eight-man decider.
Srihari Nataraj clocked 25.29 seconds in the semi-finals, an improvement on his 25.52 in the heats. The time, though, left him outside the final – a step back from Birmingham 2022, where the 25-year-old had reached the final and finished fifth, 0.10 seconds shy of a medal.
The Indian swimmer hasn’t managed a personal best in the event in five years. His time of 25.18 from 2021 – once the national record until Akash Mani lowered it to 24.87 seconds – still stands as his fastest.
Yet, he insists the graph is pointing the right way. Behind that belief is a wholesale change of method.
Three months ago, Nataraj stepped away from orthodox swimming and rebuilt his training around sprint work, taking his cue from Australian Olympic champion Cam McEvoy.
This year, he says, has brought some of the fastest times of his career even if the official record book hasn’t budged.
With the 100m backstroke, 100m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay still to come at Glasgow 2026, Nataraj, in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com, said his immediate focus remains on building towards the Asian Games later this year before deciding on his long-term future in the sport.
Here’s what he had to say
Q: How are you feeling about your performance today?
Srihari Nataraj: It was alright. Not a PB (personal best). I was a bit faster in my nationals two weeks ago, but yeah, compared to the morning session swim, it was a lot better now. It’s the best I could do. Came 11th (today), last time I was fifth.
I’m swimming better than before but I haven’t gone a PB in five years, and this is one of my fastest times. So, pretty pleased with how it’s going. Trying something new with my training.
I’ve changed my whole method of training. I’ve stepped away from the orthodox swimming method. I’ve taken inspiration from Cam McEvoy and I’m really doing a lot of sprint work. It’s been only three months on that programme, so I’m just experimenting with stuff. It is what it is.
Q: How has the new training method changed the way you feel?
Srihari Nataraj: I feel a lot better. I wake up a lot happier, more relaxed, and I recover better. I’m not wasting energy and time in the water – I’m doing only productive work. I think it’s working because I haven’t swum the times I’ve been swimming this year in four years. I’ve only been faster than what I did now maybe two times in my entire life.
Q: How has your experience been competing in Scotland?
Srihari Nataraj: For me, one of the major motivating factors to be here was to visit Scotland! First time here. It’s my third Games. I obviously missed a medal last time by 0.1, and I was hopeful that I’d get it this time, but the races are a lot faster than what they were in Birmingham. But yeah, this is probably my last Commonwealth Games as well. Pretty happy to be here and just enjoying it.
Q: Any plans to stay in Scotland after your events?
Srihari Nataraj: I’m actually pretty much done with my programme. The 50m backstroke is the only event I’m training for, so I can start sightseeing tomorrow. As unfortunate as it is, I have a couple more events, but I haven’t really planned anything. I know on the 30th we’re going all the way up to Inverness to go to Loch Ness.
We fly back on the 31st. I have another tournament coming up in about 10 weeks: the Asian Games, which is a big thing for India. So I need to get back to training; I can’t take too many days off. I might start tomorrow. I’m just going to let my friends handle the plans.
Q: What are your plans after the Asian Games? Looking long-term, what do you have coming up?
Srihari Nataraj: Depending on how the Asian Games go, I can plan a little bit better. But maybe I’ll just continue swimming towards the LA 2028 Olympics. I haven’t made a decision on that yet. I’ve been to three Commonwealth Games, it’ll be my third Asian Games, and I’ve been to two Olympics. Haven’t given it much thought, but the whole focus now is just towards the Asian Games to get that done. Even in the last Asian Games, I was fifth and missed a medal by 0.1.
I was just telling one of my friends that I’ve missed a medal by 0.1 at least six times in major tournaments: World Juniors, Asian Games, Youth Olympics, and the Commonwealth Games. It’s like a curse!
Q: You’ve missed major medals several times. How do you deal with that mentally?
Srihari Nataraj: The thing with swimming is that it’s so simple: I can only control what I do. I was fifth place last time, but didn’t make the final this time. I can’t control what the other swimmers do; I can only focus on what I can do, my training, and my race.
When I got on the block today, before pulling myself up, I told myself, ‘Swim your race. Don’t worry about the guy next to you.’ In the morning, I started looking at the guys next to me, and it threw me off. In swimming, the most important thing is to remember that you can only control what you do. Whereas in another sport like cricket or football, other people influence it, but here, they don’t.
Q: Are you satisfied with today’s performance?
Srihari Nataraj: I expected better, but I’ll take it. You learn every time you race, and I’m sure there are quite a few things to look at. I didn’t have a great heat swim, so compared to that, this was much better. But obviously, I have to go back to the drawing board and figure out what more I can do for the Asian Games, because this isn’t going to medal there. I’ve learned to deal with disappointment quite well, especially after missing a medal by 0.1 so many times.
Q: What message would you like to give everyone watching back home?
Srihari Nataraj: It’s pretty late back home, so a huge thanks if people stayed up watching – it’s like half past 12 back home. I know a lot of them are up. It’s great that we have the support and appreciation of the people back home.
Just enjoy whatever you do, whether it’s sport, education, or work. Enjoy it and make the most of it. My whole philosophy of swimming has been just to have the most fun that I can. Winning is great, but I wouldn’t want to be miserable and win all the time. I want to wake up and go to the pool every day to enjoy the workouts. I don’t want to go there thinking, ‘Do I have to do this again? Why do I have to do this?’
Which is also why I gave up so many events. Up until last year, I used to race like seven or eight events in a single tournament, and it was just too much – I wasn’t enjoying it. So I chose to give them up. Whatever you do, just try to have fun and be passionate about it.
READ MORE: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/commonwealth-games-2026-swimming-srihari-nataraj-interview-50m-backstroke
