A distant dream among constantly moving targets

Sajan and Srihari have created history, but the uphill climb for Indian swimming has only just begun

Last month, Indian swimming witnessed history being made when not one, but two swimmers went under the A-mark Olympic Qualification Time to secure berths for Tokyo 2020. In a span of 24 hours in Rome, first Sajan Prakash in 200m butterfly and then Srihari Nataraj in 100m backstroke came up with record-breaking efforts to become the first two Indian swimmers ever to make the A-cut. That they had to cope with multiple pandemic-triggered lockdowns, injury breaks and personal setbacks made the feat more noteworthy. But to merely bask in the glory of qualification is to miss the forest for the trees. As the duo already knows, and will experience first-hand in Tokyo, Olympic standards are moving targets. A stellar showing will be required to just get out of the heats and reach the semifinals, something no Indian swimmer has ever done.