Rotterdam, April 12 -- Indian long-distance runner Sawan Barwal made a strong marathon debut by breaking Shivnath Singh's 48-year-old Indian national record at the Rotterdam Marathon 2026 on Sunday.

Barwal finished 20th in Rotterdam with a time of 2:11:58, surpassing Shivnath Singh's 2:12:00 mark set in Jalandhar in 1978 by 0.42 seconds, according to Olympics.com.

Shivnath Singh's national record stood as the longest-running Indian athletics mark for nearly five decades.

Notably, Barwal completed the marathon at a speed of 19.185 km/h. The Rotterdam Marathon marked only Sawan Barwal's second competitive race of the year, following his 60th-place finish at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee in January.

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