Asian Games 2018, Indian player profiles: Swimming

The 18th edition of Asian Games is set to begin in Jakarta and Palembang on August 18, with 572 Indian sportspersons in contention for medals. After a successful Commonwealth Games, in which India finished third on the table with 66 medals – 26 gold, 20 silver and 20 bronze – the expectations from the Indian contingent are high.

Out of the 572 Indian sportspersons in Indonesia, 10 are swimmers. Here are their profiles:

Virdhawal Khade

Date of Birth: August 29, 1991

Event at Asian Games: Swimming (50m and 100m freestyle, 50m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay)

Past appearance (if any): Freestyle (50m, 100m, 4x100m), Butterfly (50m, 100m), 4x100m medley in 2010 (Guangzhou)

Best performance so far: Bronze medal in 50m butterfly in 2010 (Guangzhou)

Profile: Virdhawal Khade became the youngest swimmer from India to qualify for the Olympics at the age of 16 in the 2008 Beijing edition. After winning a bronze medal at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, Virdhawal put swimming on the back-burner to focus on his job and the cost was missing two Olympics (2012 and 2016), the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and the Asian Games. A serious knee injury added to his woes and Virdhawal’s career seemed to come to a premature end. He rose back to prominence after outpacing Olympic gold medallist Joseph Schooling in the 100-meter freestyle event at the Singapore National Championships this year.

Sandeep Sejwal

Date of Birth: January 23, 1989

Event at Asian Games: 50m breaststroke, 100m breaststroke, 4x100m medley relay

Past appearance (if any): Breaststroke (50m, 100m, 200m), 4x100m medley in 2010 (Guangzhou); Breaststroke (50m, 100m) in 2014 (Incheon)

Best performance so far: Bronze medal in 50m breaststroke in 2014 (Incheon)

Brief Description: Sandeep Sejwal was the first Indian breaststroker to qualify for the Olympics when he swam 100m and 200m at the Beijing Olympic Games. He was dropped from the Indian team for the 2012 London Olympics despite winning his qualification quota. The setback only made him stronger as he swam to win a bronze medal in the 50m breaststroke event in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. An ankle injury prevented him from participating in the Commonwealth Games this year. But he seems to have recovered well as he went on to claim the gold medal in 50m breaststroke event at the Singapore National Swimming Championships in June.

Sajan Prakash

Date of Birth: September 14, 1993

Event at Asian Games: 100m, 200m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x200m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay

Past appearance (if any): Freestyle (400m, 4x100m relay), 100m butterfly at 2014 Asian Games (Incheon)

Best performance so far: Finished fourth in the heats of 400m freestyle at 2014 Asian Games (Incheon)

Brief Description: Sajan Prakash, 24, is among the best swimmers in India and is on top form. At the Commonwealth Games in April, he competed in the finals of 200m butterfly and 1,500m freestyle events. A month later, he clinched the gold medal in the 200m butterfly event at the Malaysian Open Swimming tournament with a personal best time of 1:58.08s. Sajan’s mother, Shantymol, is a former athlete and has represented the country in several international events. The swimmer from Kerala is targeting a gold medal in the 200m butterfly event.

Srihari Nataraj

Date of Birth: January 16, 2001

Event at Asian Games: 50m, 100m, 200m backstroke, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay

Past appearance (if any): N/A

Best performance so far: N/A

Brief Description: This new kid on the block is already making quite a splash on the Indian swimming scene. He’s been breaking records and then bettering them, especially in the backstroke events, over the past few months. Despite clocking his best times in the Commonwealth Games, Srihari couldn’t make the finals of any of the events he participated in but the 17-year-old has the potential to match the likes of Virdhawal Khade and Sandeep Sejwal in winning a medal at the Asian Games. His primary target is to break the two-minute barrier in the 200m backstroke event at Jakarta.

Aaron D’Souza

Date of Birth: September 21, 1992

Event at Asian Games: 100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay

Past appearance (if any): Freestyle (100m, 200m, 4x100m, 4x200m), 4x100m medley at 2010 Asian Games (Guanzhou); 100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay, 200m butterfly at 2014 Asian Games (Incheon)

Best performance so far: Finished fourth in the heats of 200m butterfly at 2014 Asian Games

Brief Description: Aaron is among the few from the Indian contingent who will take part in his third Asian Games. He started swimming at the age of three and has won several medals at the national and international levels. After being a part of the 2008 Olympic squad to Beijing and the 2010 Asian Games, Aaron missed the cut to be part of the London Olympics in 2012. But two decades after he started swimming, Aaron is still striving to win a major medal at a multi-sport event. This year’s Asiad at Jakarta could be his moment of reckoning.

Anshul Kothari

Date of Birth: December 17, 1989

Event at Asian Games: 50m Freestyle, 50m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle relay

Past appearance (if any): 50m butterfly, 4x100 freestyle relay at 2010 Asian Games (Guanzhou); Freestyle (50m, 4x100m relay) and 50m butterfly at 2014 Asian Games (Incheon)

Best performance so far: Finished fifth in the heats of 50m freestyle in Incheon

Brief Description: Anshul, from Surat (Gujarat), was diagnosed with a chronic flat foot condition early on in his life. Doctors had advised surgery but his parents put him in swimming. As an eight-year-old, swimming for Anshul was just a treatment and an activity. But later on, it became his passion. Despite participating in the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and the previous two editions of the Asian Games, Anshul hasn’t had the chance to represent his country in the Olympics. To get to Tokyo in 2020, Anshul is working hard. For now, his target is to win a medal in Jakarta.

Neel Roy

Date of Birth: October 5, 2001

Event at Asian Games: Swimming (200m Individual Medley, 4x100m Medley Relay)

Past appearance (if any): NA

Best performance so far: NA

Brief Description: With seven medals, Neel Roy was one of the most successful swimmers at the Khelo India Games earlier this year. Neel, one of the youngest members of the Indian swimming contingent at the Asian Games, won gold in 50m freestyle, 200m Individual Medley and 200m freestyle – the last two of them by comfortable margins. He also won two silvers (in 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly) and two bronze medals (50m butterfly and 4x100m freestyle) at the inaugural edition of the event. Despite participating in many events, the Mumbai-based swimmer has constantly bettered his personal best timings in almost every tournament that he’s participated this year.

Arvind Mani

Date of Birth: September 10, 1996

Event at Asian Games: 50m, 100m backstroke, 4x100m medley relay)

Past performance (if any): N/A

Best performance so far: N/A

Brief Description: Arvind started out as a rower and he took to swimming as it was a necessity. But he enjoyed the swimming sessions at the Basavanagudi Aquatics Centre and it became his primary sport. It’s going to be mighty difficult for the 22-year-old to secure a place in the final on his first-ever appearance at the Asian Games but that is precisely what Arvind’s setting out to do in Jakarta. He finished third in the finals of the 50m and 100m backstroke in the Singapore National Swimming Championships in June. In his first major multi-sport event, he will be joined by younger brother Avinash, who’s a backstroker.

Avinash Mani

Date of Birth: May 31, 1998

Event at Asian Games: Swimming (100m butterfly, 4x200m Freestyle Relay)

Past performance (if any): N/A

Best performance so far: NA

Brief Description: Despite beginning competitive swimming almost around the same time as elder brother Arvind (who’s also going to the Asian Games), Avinash took longer to start winning. His first national medal came in 2012 in 4x200m freestyle relay. Six years later, he’s on par with his brother as the duo will travel together to Jakarta to participate in their biggest sporting event hitherto. His parents and his brother, who were a big support during his days of struggle, can rejoice about him being among the nation’s best swimmers. But this will just be the beginning for Avinash. A medal at the Asian Games seems a distant possibility for him. But competing along with some of the top swimmers in the world will be an enriching experience for him.

Advait Page

Date of Birth: November 16, 2001

Event at Asian Games: Swimming (1,500m Freestyle, 200m backstroke)

Past appearance (if any): NA

Best performance so far: NA

Brief Description: The swimmer from Madhya Pradesh showed a lot of promise during the Khelo India Games. He bagged four medals – gold in 800m freestyle and 400m Individual Medley, silver in 200m Individual Medley and 200m backstroke – there, bursting into the limelight. But the year just got better for Advait as he broke records and qualified for the Youth Olympics at the Singapore National Championships in June. He won the 1500m race there, breaking the national record by a whopping 20 seconds. He also broke the 800m national record earlier with a time of 8:10.22s. Along with Srihari Natraj, the exploits of Advait on the pool augur well for Indian swimming.