Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], July 8 (ANI): Swimming Federation of India (SFI) formally introduced a robust 23-member contingent within the aquatic disciplines (swimmingdiving) for the forthcoming nineteenth Asian Games Hangzhou, China scheduled to start on September 23, 2023.
The SFI Selection Committee met on Friday following the profitable completion of the 76th Senior National Aquatic Championships, which was additionally a qualification meet for the nineteenth Asian Games, in Hyderabad this week.
Highlighting the choice of 9 girls named within the swim crew, an elated Monal Chokshi, Secretary General of SFI stated, “We are delighted to name a strong 23-member team for the aquatic disciplines for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. In the previous edition at Jakarta, India was represented by 11 swimmers. This time, not only has the number of qualifications risen but we are also very happy that nine women swimmers have achieved the qualification time to participate in relay events.””It is also very encouraging to note that, these young women swimmers are aged between 14-19 years and have performed exceedingly well in the recently concluded championship. A majority of the New National Records at this event were clocked by these swimmers. This goes to show that Indian swimming is headed in the right direction,” affirmed Chokshi.
The 23-member crew includes of 12 swimmers within the males’s class together with the newest long-distance sensation Aryan Nehra of Gujarat who rewrote 4 nationwide information (in 400m medley, 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle) on the latest 76th Senior National Aquatic Championships. He shall be joined by butterfly ace Sajan Prakash and backstroker Srihari Nataraj each of whom had created historical past in 2021 by changing into the first-ever Indian swimmers to make the ‘A’ qualification lower for Tokyo Olympic Games.
The crew record additionally consists of Delhi’s proficient long-distance swimmer Kushagra Rawat and Vishal Grewal, Madhya Pradesh’s Advait Page and Maharashtra’s Virdhawal Khade who made the lower within the 50m butterfly occasion. Interestingly, this shall be Khade’s sixth look on the prestigious Asian Games. He has gained India a Bronze medal within the Asian Games Guangzhou, China in 2010. Also making it to the SFI’s record are Karnataka’s Aneesh S Gowda, Likith SP, Tanish George Mathew, Utkarsh Santosh Patil and SSCB’s Anand AS.
In the ladies’s class, Gujarat’s backstroke sensation and Olympian Maana Patel, Maharashtra’s Anannya Nayak and Palak Joshi, Telangana’s Vritti Agarwal, RSPB’s Shivangi Sharma and Karnataka’s Dinidhi Desinghu, Hashika Ramchandran, Linyesha AK and Nina Venkatesh have been chosen. The final time a lady represented India in swimming was on the Doha Asian Games in 2006 the place Olympian Shikha Tandon had made the lower in 50m freestyle.
Also a part of the 23-member crew are Siddharth Bajrang Pardeshi and Heman London Singh who will characterize India in diving occasions. SFI has additionally proposed a 13-member water polo squad of their ultimate record to Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
Elaborating on the choice course of, Chokshi stated, “Apart from the recent Senior National Aquatic Championships, swimmers have taken part in sanctioned qualifying meets abroad. Swimming Federation of India had published the qualification guidelines in Jan 2023, and we are happy that a large number of swimmers have made the qualification cut in their individual event and/or relay events respectively.”Swimming (Men): Aneesh S Gowda, Advait Page, Aryan Nehra, Anand AS, Kushagra Rawat, Likith SP, Sajan Prakash, Srihari Nataraj, Tanish George Mathew, Utkarsh Santosh Patil, Vishal Grewal and Virdhawal Khade.
Swimming (Women): Anannya Nayak, Dinidhi Desinghu, Hashika Ramchandran, Linyesha AK, Maana Patel, Nina Venkatesh, Palak Joshi, Shivangi Sarma, Vritti Agarwal.
Diving: Siddharth Bajrang Pardeshi and Heman London Singh. (ANI)