JOIN USSrihari Nataraj, Maana Patel nominated for Tokyo Olympics via Universality places
The Swimming Federation of India on Tuesday announced Srihari Nataraj and Maana Patel as their nominations to compete at the Tokyo Olympics, via Universality places.
The nominations were communicated to FINA, the world swimming body, on Sunday - which was also the deadline day for nominations via universality - through the Indian Olympic Association.
Universality places allow one male and one female competitor from a country to participate in the Olympics, provided no other swimmer from the same gender qualifies for the Games or receives a FINA invite based on his or her Olympic Selection time (B time).
No Indian has ever clocked the Olympic Qualification Time (A time) but six male swimmers had made the B time in the current qualifying period with Sajan Prakash breaching the B time in two events.
Srihari and Maana were nominated as they had the highest-ranking points with 863 and 735 respectively in 100m backstroke.
However, the Indian swimmers are vying for the elusive 'A' time standard and will have another chance at the end of this week. The qualification period ends on June 27 and the swimmers will be competing in meets in Rome and Los Angeles. Should any one of them clock the 'A' standard, the Universality spot in that gender will be rescinded.
"I'm grateful for the nomination but it's not over till it's over," said Srihari. "Me and Sajan are both .6 seconds away (from A time) so we don't know who can potentially pull off an A cut. Others are racing in the US as well around the same dates, so it's not over."
"In Rome, pool and racing conditions are faster. My taper should also kick in by the time I race, as I can do a full taper this time compared to Belgrade (last weekend). There are only three foreigners allowed in the final so I have to go all out in the preliminary race to have a chance to swim again in the evening."
He, along with the rest of the team in Belgrade, will leave for Rome on Wednesday, his event is on Friday.
Meanwhile, Maana's participation is all but confirmed as no female swimmer has achieved the 'B' cut. After her struggles with injuries and form over the past few years, Maana recorded the best Indian performance in the 100m backstroke in Belgrade with a time of 1:03.77s.
"I had no clue (about the nomination), I knew I had the highest ranking points. After training I got so many messages. I am feeling overwhelmed and numb. I had just focused on swimming faster and I've got the pace again after so long. After all the injuries and the lockdowns, I'm a bit overwhelmed," she said.