Sajan Prakash on Saturday became the first-ever Indian swimmer to qualify for the Olympic Games by breaching the 'A' standard time, clocking 1:56:38 seconds in the men's 200m butterfly event at the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome, Italy. The Games 'A' standard was set at 1:56.48 seconds and the 27-year-old swimmer from Kerala completed the run 0.10 seconds faster at the FINA-accredited Olympic qualifier.
"I have worked very hard for this, and I was confident with the way I had trained," Sajan was quoted as saying in a press release. He has been in the state police since August 2019 as an inspector in the Special Armed Force. The Kerala Police congratulated Sajan on his Olympic ‘A’ cut.
"This was my last chance, and I knew I had to do it here. I had come so close to the qualifying mark in the previous meets, but my Coach Pradeep Sir and I planned my tapering in such a way that I would peak at these two events in Serbia and Rome,” Sajan said.
Sajan Prakash, Armed Police Inspector in Kerala Police, qualified for the Olympics with the A cut time 1.56.38 in 200m butterfly in Rome today. He becomes the first Indian swimmer to represent India, in the Olympics and to qualify with an A cut. A proud moment the country. pic.twitter.com/vWj61guusX
— Kerala Police (@TheKeralaPolice) June 26, 2021
"I am grateful to all the support I have received from SFI, SAI and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS). I believed in myself and my Coach Pradeep Kumar. Pradeep Sir was the anchor and I owe this to him. I knew I had it in me, and I am glad I achieved it," added Sajan.
Sajan, known as 'Indian Michael Phelps,' shot to fame after the National Games of 2015 when he won six gold medals and three silver medals. A year later, he got a wildcard entry to the Rio Olympics of 2016. Sajan had worked as a train clerk in Bengaluru to financially support his passion for swimming in those years.
From TNM archives, read: 'India’s Michael Phelps' is a Kerala railway clerk who will take on his idol at Rio 2016
He also rewrote his own national record of 1:56.96s that he had set last week at the Belgrade Trophy swimming competition. This will be Sajan’s second successive Olympics, having represented India in the 2016 Rio Games.
"Historic moment in Indian Swimming !!! Sajan Prakash breaks the glass ceiling clocks 1:56.38 an Olympic qualification time. CONGRATULATIONS," tweeted the Swimming Federation of India. Sajan will take part in the Tokyo Games alongside Maana Patel, who has been nominated by the Swimming Federation of India for the Universality places.
Sajan’s direct qualification means Srihari Nataraj, who missed the 'A' in the 100m men's backstroke by 0.05s in Rome on Friday, will not be competing in the Tokyo Games despite being nominated for the Universality places.
The Universality quota allows one male and one female competitor from a country to participate in the Olympics, provided no other swimmer from the same gender qualifies for the Games or receives a FINA invite based on his or her Olympic Selection time (B time).
The Kerala swimmer had always been optimistic about breaching the elusive 'A' mark.
"This is not my peak yet, when I peak after some skill sharpening, after that, I think it (A mark) will happen. I have to be patient for that," he told PTI in April after he clocked 1.57.85s in the Uzbekistan Open Championship.
Since then, he has constantly improved his time. Last week, in the Belgrade Trophy swimming competition he clocked 1:56.96 seconds.
It was a good day for Indian swimming as TOPS developmental swimmer Kenisha Gupta also created a national record. The Mumbai swimmer clocked 57.35 second in the 100m freestyle event at the Rome event.
(With PTI inputs)