Becomes first-ever Indian swimmer to make Olympic ‘A’ cut

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 Prakash completed the run 0.10 seconds faster at the FINA-accredited Olympic qualifier. “Historic moment in Indian Swimming !!! Sajan Prakash breaks the glass ceiling clocks 1:56.38 an Olympic qualification time. CONGRATULATIONS,” tweeted Swimming Federation of India.

Prakash 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 Prakash’s second successive Olympics, having represented India in the 2016 Rio Games.

He will take part in the Tokyo Games alongside Maana Patel, who has been nominated by the Swimming Federation of India for the Universality places.

Prakash’s direct qualification means Srihari Nataraj, who missed the ‘A’ 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.