Tokyo Olympics: Sajan Prakash's qualification in Swimming - Can India make the most of it?

Sajan Prakash has qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in swimming. Okay, what is so special about it? He has qualified in swimming. Yeah, so?

Sajan Prakash qualified under 'A' Standard for his event, the Men's 200 meter butterfly. That is something not many are realizing yet. It is like qualifying for the Olympics with a throw of more than 21 meters in men's shot put. As such, this is a phenomenal performance that can change India's future in Olympic sports.

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Swimming - India's worst performing section at the Olympics

Swimming has been a regular feature at the Olympics. India has been sending swimmers at regular intervals since the 1948 London Olympics. However, most have cut a sorry figure. Not many have made a cut under B qualifying standards as well.

Since the 2012 London Olympics, we have seen our swimmers make cuts under the Universality quota. This meant that our swimmers were not even capable enough to qualify on their own.

The only notable performance in any swimming discipline came from Craftsman Murlikant Petkar. A differently enabled soldier, crippled in the 1965 Indo Pak War, Murlikant broke the world record in the Men's 50 m Freestyle S3 at the 1972 Para Olympics to win India's only medal at any level in swimming.

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How is Saajan Prakash's qualifying performance for the Tokyo Olympics different?

So, how is Saajan Prakash's performance different? Imagine, seeing various runners from your country run 100 meters continuously below 10.5 seconds. All of a sudden, a runner runs the same distance for 9.9 seconds. This is not the best time, but it still breaks the traditional norm.

Likewise, Saajan Prakash has made sure that even the world takes notice of India in swimming. The last time a swimmer made the world take notice with his performance was Virdhawal Khade. He stood 1st in his heats in the 50 meters freestyle at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

His timing wasn't good enough to make him qualify for the semifinals. However, he did make the world take notice with his performance. Likewise, another swimming champion, Srihari Natarajan, had missed the Olympic quota by a whisker.

However, the improvement in the timings has a message. Indian swimming is no longer the subject of some poor jokes. With a little persuasion and some proper training, we can also produce people like Joseph Schooling in our own backyard.