Indian swimmers cleared for Olympic qualifying occasions in Serbia and Rome

A 3-member Indian swimming crew, together with Srihari Nataraj, will depart for Serbia on Tuesday evening to compete within the Belgrade Trophy, a FINA-accredited Olympic qualifying occasion.
The occasion is scheduled to be on June 19 and 20.
Sajan Prakash is presently coaching in Dubai and is anticipated to affix the crew in Belgrade by June 12.
Apart from Olympic ‘B’ qualifying mark achievers Nataraj and Prakash, who’re hoping to make the A qualification mark, the crew includes seasoned again stroker Maana Patel, who just lately returned to type at a world meet in Uzbekistan.
There might be children Aryan Nehra, Shoan Ganguli, Tanish Mathew and Kenisha Gupta who’re a part of the TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) group and have been exhibiting nice promise.
The crew, sans Nehra and Ganguli (who didn’t meet the qualification instances), will journey to Rome on June 23 to participate within the annual Sette Colli Trophy which can also be a FINA-accredited Olympic Qualifying occasion, to be held on June 25, 26 and 27.
They might be accompanied by seasoned coaches Nihar Ameen and Pradeep Kumar.
In April this yr, the Indian swimmers had participated within the Uzbekistan Open, which was their first worldwide meet for the reason that COVID-19 lockdown in March final yr.
“The Indian swimmers, particularly Srihari Nataraj, had done exceedingly well in the Uzbekistan Open and got closer to the A qualifying time in the 100m backstroke event,” stated Swimming Federation of India (SFI) government director Virender Nanavati.
“… Sajan Parkash, Kenisha Gupta and Maana Patel posted spectacular performances of their respective occasions.
“They have been shaping up really well and we are hopeful that they will be able to achieve the qualifying mark before the cutoff date.”
SFI secretary basic Monal Chokshi emphasised that the competitors in Belgrade and Rome is not going to solely be an awesome alternative for the Olympic hopefuls to qualify however this may even present a great publicity for the swimmers getting ready for the forthcoming Asian Games in 2022.
“Upon their arrival in Belgrade, the Indian swimmers might be stationed on the Serbian National Swim Team coaching facility. This will present an awesome publicity for our swimmers forward of the 2 Qualifying meets.
“The squad is in good form, and we are expecting them to swim faster than what they did in Uzbekistan in April,” stated Chokshi.
Of the six Indian swimmers who’ve clocked the B qualifying time to this point, three of them are presently coaching within the USA.
Kushagra Rawat and Advait Page might be collaborating on the final qualification meet in USA from June 24-27.
“SFI is hopeful that one or more of our swimmers will achieve the A cut for Olympic Games Tokyo 2020,” added Chokshi.
SFI president RN Jayaprakash expressed his gratitude to Sports Ministry, the External Affairs Ministry and Sports Authority of India for clearing this journey.
Squad for Belgrade Trophy: Srihari Nataraj (50m & 100m Backstroke), Sajan Prakash (100 & 200m Butterfly, 200m Freestyle), Maana Patel (100m Backstroke), Kenisha Gupta (50m & 100m Freestyle), Tanish Mathew (100m,200m Butterfly,200 Free), Aryan Nehra (200m,400m,1500m Freestyle), Shoan Ganguli ( 200m,400m Individual Medley, 100,200m Butterfly)
Squad for Setti Colli Trophy in Rome: Srihari Nataraj (50m & 100m Backstroke), Sajan Prakash (100 & 200m Butterfly, 200m Freestyle), Maana Patel (100m Backstroke), Kenisha Gupta (50m & 100m Freestyle), Tanish Mathew (200m Freestyle, 200m Butterfly).