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Tokyo Olympics: Know Your Olympian - Sajan Prakash, Swimming

Sajan Prakash (AFP Photo)

Sajan Prakash (AFP Photo)

Sajan Prakash Profile Swimming Tokyo Olympics: Sajan Prakash aims for glory in second Olympic appearance.

  • Last Updated:July 12, 2021, 17:04 IST

Hailing from Idukki, Kerala, Sajan Prakash was the only Indian male to represent India in swimming at the 2016 Rio Olympics. He holds a number of national and Asian records and is the first Indian swimmer to breach the FINA ‘A’ Olympic Qualification time when the swimmer set national record timing of 1:56:38 in the 200m butterfly event in the 2021 Sette Colli Trophy in Rome. He began swimming from the age of five and decided to make a career out of it.

Prakash has participated in the 2016 Rio Olympics, the Asian Games (2014 & 2018) and the Commonwealth Games (2014 & 2016).

Prakash is a graduate in Computer Applications and is currently an officer in the Kerala Police.

Age - 27

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Sports/Discipline - Swimming

Working Ranking - 119

First Olympic Games - Rio 2016

Major Achievements

Asian Indoor Games

Silver – 100m Butterfly Category, 2017, Ashgabat (Turkmenistan)

Indian National Games, Kerala (2015)

  • Gold – 100m Butterfly
  • Gold – 200m Butterfly
  • Silver – 200m Freestyle
  • Gold – 400m Freestyle
  • Gold – 800m Freestyle
  • Gold – 4X100m Relay Freestyle
  • Silver – 4X100 Relay Medley

Tokyo Olympics Qualification

Sajan secured a ticket to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics automatically with an ‘A’ qualification, becoming the first Indian to do so. The qualification can be regarded as a remarkable achievement considering the swimmer came back after spending eight months out due to a neck injury, adding the COVID-19 pandemic closing down tournaments as well.

Recent Performances

After recovering from his neck injury, Sajan set a new record by breaching the Olympic Qualifying Time by setting a record of 1:56:38 in the men’s 200m butterfly event in June. Following his ground breaking performance, the swimmer went on set a new national record in the 200m butterfly event at the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome as he broke Virdhawal Khade’s 2010 record and clocking a time of 1:49:73.

2016 Rio Olympics Performance

Sajan Prakash had finished 28th in the 200m butterfly event in the Rio Olympics.

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first published:July 12, 2021, 17:04 IST