Self perception, shutting down nonsense helped me qualify for Olympics: Sajan Prakash

One of India’s prime swimmers, Sajan Prakash says shutting down all of the “nonsense” round him and self perception and having an awesome assist system have been key to his dream comeback and he’s aiming to compete within the finals of the upcoming Tokyo Games.
The Keralaite was laid low by a career-threatening neck harm in 2019 and the COVID-19 induced lockdown solely made it more difficult for him to qualify for the Olympics because the swimming pools remained shut for lengthy.
However, the 27-year-old clocked 1:56:38 seconds within the males’s 200m butterfly occasion in Rome to grow to be the primary ever Indian swimmer to earn a direct Olympic qualification.
“There were many comments, even before the lockdown that I was old and am not getting any improvements,” Sajan mentioned in a digital interplay organised by SAI.
“Keeping all that aside, I think the important thing was the support system believed in me. My friends backed me and I didn’t lose hope in myself. I’m 27-year-old and a swimming event like this needs a lot of confidence in you.”
“It’s all the work we did and we tried to stay focussed on our goal and sticking towards our business and not letting any nonsense come inside. With that we could achieve it,” he mentioned.
Asked a few practical goal on the Games, he mentioned, “I would say cut down another 0.5 seconds and it’s possible in this case and that will take me 1:55:8, something that will surely get me into the semi-finals, and maybe towards the final as well.”
Sajan mentioned he’s engaged on the turns and making an attempt to cowl extra distance in one-stroke in order to chop down the timing.
“Exactly we’ve got 20 days for the meet. We have finished all of the work earlier than the {qualifications}, it’s about engaged on small issues. I’m engaged on the turns, growing extra distance on that one stroke in order that I attain the wall faster and switch.
“I’m increasing on some speed because I lack the front hand speed. I’m confident to cut down some more time so that will give me a chance to be in the semi-finals and maybe in the final as well,” he mentioned.
Sajan first had indicators of the neck harm in the course of the sidelines of the World Championships in Gwangju in July 2019 nevertheless it was solely on the Nepal South Asian Games in December, scans revealed a slip disc on his neck’s C4, C5 and C6 bones.
Rehab adopted and his restoration was hit exhausting by the lockdown as he couldn’t get into the pool after shifting to Thailand.
Forget breaching the Olympic A qualification mark of 1:56:48 seconds, it was powerful to handle even a stroke within the trickiest butterfly that requires immense muscle energy and talent, however he stored at it with out paying heed to the criticism round him.
“I had to basically start everything from scratch. I had to work on basics so looking to qualify for another Olympics with an A cut, that wasn’t the right thing to do and we had to run very short of time,” he recalled.
“We worked on small small things going step by step, and with my own dedication, and of my coach, today I’ve made it.”
After Sajan, Srihari Nataraj additionally achieved a direct qualification, when the 20-year-old clocked 53.77 seconds within the males’s 100m backstroke in Rome to make the lower.
India may even have a 3rd swimmer, Maana Patel who has made the lower by means of the ?Universality quota’ as for the primary time India will ship three members to participate within the Summer Games.
Sajan says lack of alternative is the most important hurdle for Indians’ progress.
“As for as the Indian swimmers are concerned, they don’t lack in talent but they don’t have the opportunity to be consistent. We just have two competitions in our senior swimmers and that’s not enough to go and test yourself all the time.”
“You have to have extra competitions inside India. At least that’s one fundamental factor we have to have. I believe if that is available in and the federal government helps extra in the direction of that and extra sports activities science and biomechanics coming in the direction of one purpose. I believe there will probably be adjustments sooner or later.
“In my opinion, it’s not just willpower only, it’s a package. The sportsperson should have all the qualities to put together to achieve at that point. It’s a combined effort. For me, it’s the support system that brought me to this level,” he concluded.