Kolkata, July 4: One of India’s top swimmers, Sajan Prakash says shutting down all the “nonsense” around him, self belief and having a great support system were key to his dream comeback and now he is aiming to compete in the finals of the upcoming Tokyo Games. The Keralaite was laid low by a career-threatening neck injury in 2019 and the COVID-19 induced lockdown only made it more challenging for him to qualify for the Olympics as pools remained close for long.
However, the 27-year-old clocked 1:56:38 seconds in the men’s 200m butterfly event in Rome to become the first ever Indian swimmer to earn a direct Olympic qualification.
“There were many comments, even before the lockdown that I was old and am not getting any improvements,” Sajan said in a virtual interaction organised by SAI.
“Keeping all that aside, I think the important thing was the support system believed in me. My friends backed me and I didn’t lose hope in myself. I’m 27-year-old and a swimming event like this needs a lot of confidence in you.”
“It’s all the work we did and we tried to stay focussed on our goal and sticking towards our business and not letting any nonsense come inside. With that we could achieve it,” he said. Asked about a realistic target at the Games, he said, “I would say cut down another 0.5 seconds and it’s possible in this case and that will take me 1:55:8, something that will surely get me into the semi-finals, and maybe towards the final as well.”
After Sajan, Srihari Nataraj also achieved a direct qualification, when the 20-year-old clocked 53.77 seconds in the men’s 100m backstroke in Rome. India’s third swimmer, Maana Patel made the cut through the Universality quota’. (PTI)
