Swimming in India | |
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![]() Gold medal winners of Indian men's 4x100m medley in swimming, at the 12th South Asian Games 2016 | |
Governing body | Swimming Federation of India |
Swimming is widely practiced in India, but only leisurely and not commonly as a professional sport. [1] [2]
Swimming sport in India is administered by the Swimming Federation of India. [3] SFI was formed by the merger of the National Swimming Association (NSA) and the Indian Swimming Federation (ISF). [4]
Indian swimmer Srihari Nataraj won silver in the 50m backstroke event at the 30th Mare Nostrum swimming tour at the Canet-en-Roussillon, France. [5]
In 2020 SFI prepared a plan for the long-term development of the sport. [6] A workshop was organised in 2021 with Dr. Genadijus Sokolovas. [7] [8] In 2024, the Inspire Institute of Sport launched the Mizuho High Performance Swimming Programme in partnership with Mizuho Bank. [9]
Sajan Prakash and Srihari Nataraj achieved direct qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, a feat never achieved by any Indian swimmer before. [10] Dhinidhi Desinghu, the youngest member of the Indian Olympic contingent, and Srihari Nataraj will represent India in swimming at the 2024 Paris Olympics. [11]
India has won one gold in the Asian Games, which was bagged by Sachin Nag in the 100m freestyle at the inaugural edition in New Delhi. [12] The country has won two silver and 6 bronze overall, the latest being Sandeep Sejwal's bronze in the 2014 Asiad in Incheon, South Korea. [2] India sent a 23-member contingent, including 9 women to the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. [13] [14] The Indian swimmers qualified for the finals of three events [15] and set seven national records in Hangzhou, but did not win any medals. [16]
India has won one bronze at the Commonwealth Games. [2]
Tournament | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
Asian Games | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
Commonwealth Games | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Total | 1 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
Year | Recipient | Award | Gender |
---|---|---|---|
1961 | Bajarangi Prasad | Arjuna Award | Male |
1966 | Rima Dutta | Arjuna Award | Female |
1967 | Arun Shaw | Arjuna Award | Male |
1969 | Baidyanath Nath | Arjuna Award | Male |
1971 | Bhanwar Singh | Arjuna Award | Male |
1973 | Dhanvir Khatau | Arjuna Award | Male |
1974 | Manjari Bhargava | Arjuna Award | Female |
1974 | Avinash B. Sarang | Arjuna Award | Male |
1975 | Smita Desai | Arjuna Award | Female |
1975 | M. S. Rana | Arjuna Award | Male |
1982 | Persis Madan | Arjuna Award | Female |
1983 | Anita Sood | Arjuna Award | Male |
1984 | Khajan Singh | Arjuna Award | Male |
1988 | Wilson Cherian | Arjuna Award | Male |
1990 | Bula Choudhury | Arjuna Award | Female |
1996 | V. Kutraleeswaran | Arjuna Award | Male |
1998 | Bhanu Sachdeva | Arjuna Award | Male |
1999 | Nisha Millet | Arjuna Award | Female |
2000 | J. Abhijith | Arjuna Award | Male |
2000 | Sebastian Xavier | Arjuna Award | Male |
2005 | Shikha Tandon | Arjuna Award | Female |
2010 | Rehan Poncha | Arjuna Award | Male |
2011 | Virdhawal Khade | Arjuna Award | Male |
2012 | Sandeep Sejwal | Arjuna Award | Male |
2011 | Sushil Kohli | Dhyan Chand Award | Male |
2014 | K. P. Thakkar | Dhyan Chand Award | Male |
2020 | Sachin Nag # | Dhyan Chand Award | Male |
2015 | Nihar Ameen + | Dronacharya Award | Male |
2016 | S. Pradeep Kumar+ | Dronacharya Award | Male |
2021 | Tapan Kumar Panigrahi+ | Dronacharya Award | Male |
+ Indicates a Lifetime contribution honour | # Indicates a posthumous honour |
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