In 1896, swimming became a part of the Olympic Games, but no Indian made it to the Olympics until 2021. However, in June 2021, Sajan Prakash clocked 1: 56.38 in the men’s 200m butterfly event. He set a new national record and qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. He became the first Indian swimmer to qualify for the Olympics with this act.
Qualifying for the Olympics is a miraculous achievement for the Indian male swimmer Sajan. However, he also has several equally phenomenal records thanks to his swimming skills. Because of his swimming, Sajan is also known as the Michael Phelps of India. This blog will highlight his full life story, so keep reading to learn about Sajan Prakash.
Sajan Prakash: Early Life
Sajan’s story begins on 14 September 1993 in Idukki, Kerala. One of the best Indian swimmers of all time, Sajan is the son of former Indian track and field athlete V Shantymol. He started swimming when he was only six. Sajan started his schooling at St. Paul’s Matriculation Higher Secondary School. He completed his higher education at Jawahar Higher Secondary School, Neyveli, Tamil Nadu, while continuing with swimming training.
Sajan Prakash: Career
V Shantymol introduced Sajan Prakash to professional swimming, and with exceptional skills, he started to make a name for himself in swimming. After winning six gold and three silver medals at the 2015 National Games in Kerala, he came to the limelight. His career took sharp turns from here, and he climbed the ladder of success. Let’s scroll down to learn about Sajan’s career in national games:
Olympics
As mentioned above, Sajan secured an entry for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, becoming the first Indian swimmer to achieve this feat. Before this, Sajan finished in 28th position in the butterfly event at the 2016 Summer Olympics, which was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He also participated in the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan, where he secured 46th position with a timing of 53:45 secs.
Asian Games
The 2018 Asian Games, or the 18th edition of the Asian Games, was a continental multi-sport event held in Jakarta and Palembang. Sajan Prakash participated in this competition and competed in the 100m and 200m butterfly events and the 4 x 200m and 4 x 100m Freestyle Relays. In the 200 butterfly event, Sajan secured 5th position with a clocking timing of 1:57.75. Sajan finished in 8th position in the finals of the 4 x 100 m Freestyle Relay.
Commonwealth Games
The 2018 Commonwealth Games, also known as XXI Commonwealth Games or Gold Coast 2018, was held in Queensland, Australia. Sajan Prakash participated in this event, where he ranked 8th position in the 200m Butterfly final within a time range of 1:59.05 seconds.
Sajan Prakash: Achievements
We have covered most of the information about Michael Phelps of India. Now, let’s check out his miraculous achievements in the section below.
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The 36th National Games was held in Gujarat from 29 September 2022 to 12 October 2022. In this event, Sajan won a gold medal in the 100m butterfly stroke and a silver medal in the 200m freestyle.
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In the 35th National Games (31 January to 14 February 2015) held in Kerala, Sajan won six gold medals and three silver medals. Because of his performance in the national games, Sajan also won the Best Athlete award in 2015.
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Sajan Prakash was the only Indian male swimmer participating in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
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In the Asian Indoor Games 2017, held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, between 17 September and 27 September. Sajan won a silver medal in the 100m butterfly category at this competition.
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Michael Phelps of India holds ten national, 3 South Asian, and 1 Asian records in different categories.
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The 2018 Asian Games was held in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia. Sajan is the first Indian swimmer to qualify for the finals of this competition in the 200m Butterfly event in 32 years.
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He is the first Indian swimmer to qualify for two Olympics in a row.
The Swimming Sensation Of India: Sajan Prakash
India has some of the finest swimmers; one of the famous personalities is Sajan Prakash. Sajan was coached by Pradeep Kumar, India’s national swimming coach. He is a 30-year-old male swimmer from Kerala and is admired by several celebrities like actor Mohanlal and R Madhavan. He was also praised by organisations like the Swimming Federation of India. Sajan achieved such success only because of his skills, dedication, and passion for swimming