Four swimmers selected to represent India at FINA World Championships
The 10km and 5km races at the Goa Swimmathon last weekend were used as the official selection process for the national team to go to Kazan. Almost 600 swimmers took place in the Swimmathon in 10km, 5km, 1km and 250m races.
The fastest swimmers from the 10km and 5km events were selected to represent India in Kazan. The winning swimmers were Mandar Divase (men’s 10km), Nikita Prabhu (women’s 10km), Sajan Prakash (men’s 5km) and Pooja Khumare (women’s 5km).
National coach Pradeep Kumar of the Swimming Federation of India was also the official race director: “Swimmathon 2015 is a stepping stone for Indian swimmers to become international-level sports personalities and represent India at the FINA World Championship 2015, Russia. I am positive that Swimmathon 2015 is a great initiative that will help swimming emerge as a serious sport in India and provide opportunities to all aspiring swimmers.”
Open water swimming is currently undergoing a revival in India. In January this year Bhakti Sharma set a new world record in the Antarctic Ocean by swimming 1.4 miles in 41.14 minutes in water of 1 degree Celsius. Speaking to H2Open earlier this month, she said: “We have had great open water swimmers in the past, but they were only few. With the present condition, the future of open water swimming looks bright in India.”
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Simon Griffiths
I created Outdoor Swimmer in 2011 (initially as H2Open Magazine) as an outlet for my passion for swimming outdoors. I've been a swimmer and outdoor swimmer for as long as I remember. Swimming has made a huge difference to my life and I want to share its joys and benefits with as many people as possible. I am also the author of Swim Wild & Free: A Practical Guide to Swimming Outdoors 365 a Year and I provide one-to-one support to swimmers through Swim Mentoring.
