For Rio Olympics India are going one better this time in swimming compared to the lone Indian representation at the 2012 london Olympics.
last time it was Ullalmath Gagan who was the only one to represent the country in the 1500m freestyle. This time though the country have two participants in Sajan Prakash and Shivani Kataria.
Kerala-born Sajan, 22, will swim in the men’s 200m butterfly while 18-year-old Shivani will compete in the women’s 200m freestyle. The two will be accompanied by National coach Pradeep Kumar.
Following the absence of a swimmer with an OQT (‘A’ time), India was awarded Universality places (one man and one woman) by FINA, after the qualification window shut on July 3.
In order to take a university place, a swimmer must have participated in the 2015 World Championships in Kazan. Based on which, the SFI selection committee chose Sajan ahead of Sandeep Sejwal, Virdhawal Khade, Aaron D’Souza and Saurabh Sangvekar.
Sajan’s magnificent performance at the Age Group long Course swimming meet in Hong Kong on July 2, when he clocked 1:59.69 in the 200m butterfly helped him became an important member of Indian swimming fraternity. With which he also became the first Indian ever to dip under the two-minute-mark. With that he bettered Rehan Poncha’s 7-year-old record of 2:00:70.
Meanwhile in the women’s section, Haryana’s Shivani was the only Indian woman to compete at the Worlds and thus was the only one eligible. Shivani will also be first Indian woman swimmer at the Olympics since 2004.