Swimming was introduced to the modern Olympics in 1900, at Paris. In 1928, D.D. Mulji became the first-time Indian swimmer to participate in the Olympics. In 1932, Nalin Chandra represented India at the Olympics. And after that Indian swimmers got to participate in 1948, 1952, 1956 and 1964, and then again, after a gap of 24 years in 1988.
We observe that India from being an irregular participant in the Olympics until 1992 became a consistent participant since 1996. Indian swimmers started participating through universality quota (B qualification). It was only in the year 2016 that for the very first time any Indian swimmer achieved the ‘A’ qualifying mark for Paralympics held in Rio. However, India still awaits “Olympic Qualifying Time” in swimming, which is the sure-shot entry to the Olympics.
The good news is that six of our male swimmers— Kushagra Rawat, Sri Hari Natrajan, Advait page, Aryan Makhija, Sajan prakash, and Virdhawal Khade—have qualified so far for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics (B qualification timing).
Kushagra Rawat is holding the best Indian performance in the 400 and 1,500 metres freestyle event. Rawat is the only Indian swimmer who had achieved the ‘B’ qualification mark in the three events with the timing of 3:52.75 seconds in 400m, 8:01.71 seconds in 800m, and 15:25.22 seconds in1500m freestyle. Kushagra Rawat is the only Indian swimmer who has qualified in 3 events for the upcoming Olympics. Arjuna Awardee and Asian Games Bronze medalist, Virdhawal Khade is the fastest swimmer in our country, and he is holding India’s best performance in five swimming events.
Hari Natrajan is holding India’s best performance in 50, 100 and 200 meters backstroke. He is one of the finest backstroke swimmers India has produced so far. Advait Page holds India’s best performance record in 800m freestyle & 400m Individual medley. Page has achieved ‘B’ qualification mark in 800mfreestyle with a time of 8:00.76 seconds. Aryan Makhija, a talented freestyle swimmer, achieved a ‘B’ qualification mark in 800m freestyle with a time of 8:07.80 seconds.
Whether India satisfies itself again with the universality quota, OQT/B, or will any swimmer create history by qualifying OQT/A, is still a question. As 29 June 2021 is set as new deadline for the qualification period of the Tokyo Olympics, swimmers across the globe have ample time to prepare for the qualifiers.
The writer is an Assistant Professor at LSR, DU, and a wellknown swimmer