Sports has always been a major part of India’s culture. But swimming often struggled to establish its place in Indian sporting system. Still there are some players who choose swimming as their sports. Here is the list of these swimmers:
SAJAN PRAKASH
Sajan prakash is an Indian swimmer who specialises in freestyle, butterfly and medley events. At the 2015 National games in Kerala ,he set a record on 8 february 2015 by winning 6 gold and 3 silver medals, and became the best athlete of the Indian national games. He participated in summer olympics 2016 Rio and Tokyo olympics 2020 and he is the holder of 11 Indian swimming records in events spanning freestyle, butterfly and many more.
VIRDHAWAL KHADE
Virdhawal Vikram Khade (born 29 August 1991) is an Indian swimmer. He competed in the men’s 50, 100, and 200 meters Freestyle swimming events at the 2008 Summer olympics in Beijing,[1] setting an Indian national record in 100 meters Freestyle. He failed to qualify for the semifinals in his events despite winning his qualification heat. Khade won a bronze medal in the 50 meters butterfly event at the 2010 Asian games in Guangzhou; it was India’s first Asian Games medal in swimming in 24 years. He was conferred with the Arjuna Award in 2011 by the Government of India.
BHAKTI SHARMA
Bhakti Sharma (born 30 November 1989)
Sharma is the first Asian woman and the youngest in the world to set a record in open swimming in Antarctic waters. Sharma swam 1.4 miles (2.3 km) in 41.14 minutes, at a temperature of 1 °C (34 °F), breaking the record of Lynne Cos (USA) and Lewis pugh(Great Britain). Bhakti Sharma has swum in all the five oceans of the world, besides swimming in or across eight other seas and channels. She was awarded the Tenzing Norway National Adventure Award in 2010.
ARATI SAHA
Arati Saha (later Arati Gupta, born 24 September 1940 – 23 August 1994) was an Indian long-distance swimmer. She was best known for becoming the first Asian woman to swim across the English channel on 29 September 1959 at nineteen years old In 1960, she became the first Indian sportswoman to be awarded the Padma Shri , the fourth-highest civilian honour in India.
SHAMSHER KHAN
Shamsher Khan (1933 – 15 October 2017) was an Indian swimmer who represented India in the 1956 Summer Olympics. In 1954, he made a national record in the 200-meter butterfly event. He broke the existing national record at the national meet in Bangalore in 1955.
Shamsher Khan was in the Indian Army and also participated in the Indo-China war in 1962 and the war with Pakistan in 1971. He retired from the Indian Army in 1973 with the Subedar rank.
