Swimmers in India have been taking part in various competition of national and international importance for long. Ever since the game has been a part of Olympics in 1896, Indian swimmers were in the international scene.
Popular Swimmers in India
Some of the well-known swimmers from India over the years have been Nafisa Ali, Bula Choudhury, Sachin Nag, Prasanta Karmakar, Aditya Raut, Sachet Engineer, Kutraleeswaran, Nisha Millet, Arati Saha, Sandeep Sejwal, Khajan Singh, Anita Sood, Mihir Sen, Shikha Tandon, Sushil Kohli and Sebastian Xavier.
Following are the popular Swimmers in India:
Vidhawal Khad: He made history on 16th November 2010 when he won an award following 24 years for India in swimming in the 50m butterfly categorization at the 2010 Asian amusements. He contended in the men"s 50 m, 100 m and 200 m Freestyle swimming events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Sandeep Sejwal: He challenged in the men"s 100 m and 200 m swimming stroke occasions at the 2010 Asian Juniors in Beijing. He won the Bronze award in 2014 Asian amusements in 50m bosom stroke.
Bijoy Barman: Bijoy Barman is an Indian former swimmer. He competed in the men`s 100 metres backstroke and the water polo at the 1952 Summer Olympics.
Vaania Kapoor Achuthan: Vaania Kapoor Achuthan is an Indian competitive swimmer. At the ages of 9 years, Vaania Kapoor Achuthan was selected to represent the Karnataka state swimming team. Vaania has achieved many swimming records and has won many medals both at the national and state competitions.
Nafisa Ali: Nafisa Ali has accomplishments in swimming. She was the national swimming champion from 1972-1974 who won the Miss India title in 1976 and was runner-up at the Miss International contest in 1977. Ali was also a jockey at the Calcutta Gymkhana in 1979.
Bula Choudhury: Bula Choudhury is an Arjuna awardee, Padma Shri awardee, former Indian national women`s swimming champion. She is now elected as current MLA in May 2016 in West Bengal state.
Shivani Kataria: Shivani Kataria is an Indian swimmer. Shivani Kataria competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the women`s 200-meter freestyle event.
Dolly Nazir: Dolly Nazir is an Indian former swimmer. Dolly Nazir competed in two events at the 1952 Summer Olympics.
Kanchanmala D Pande: Kanchanmala D Pande is a blind international female swimmer. She has won several medals at international, National and State level since she was a child. She has competed successfully with sighted swimmers at all levels.
Bimal Chandra: Bimal Chandra was an Indian swimmer. He competed in two events at the 1948 Summer Olympics.
Sachet Engineer: Sachet Engineer is an Indian actor and a swimmer. He is best known for his role as Yohaan Awasthi (Dada) in the 2007 Bollywood film, Taare Zameen Par.
Sachin Nag: Sachin Nag was an Indian swimmer. He competed in the men`s 100 meters freestyle at the 1948 Summer Olympics.
Khajan Singh: Khajan Singh is an Indian swimmer, who remained national swimming champion of India, and won a silver medal at the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul. He was awarded an Arjuna Award by Government of India in 1984.
Anshul Ketan Kothari: Anshul Ketan Kothari is an Indian competitive swimmer who has represented India in Commonwealth Games 2010, Asian Games 2010, and Asian Games 2014.
Sajan Prakas: He made history on 8th February 2015 by winning 6 gold and 3 Silver awards and turned into the best contestant of the Indian National Games.
Shikha Tandon: She has won 146 national awards, and 36 decorations in worldwide rivalries, including five gold medals.
Rehan Poncha: He is a five-time national champion Indian swimmer and Arjuna Award winner. He is a 5-time Indian swimming champion, and a 6-time record holder in the butterfly.
For more years after that, the swimmers from India have been mere pushovers in international competitions. Excepting a few omissions, which includes Khazan Singh`s silver medal at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games, not many swimmers from India have been able to shine in the international matches, and earn laurels for the country.