Tokyo Olympics swimming: Below his best, Sajan Prakash fails to advance in 200m butterfly
Sajan Prakash, who became the first Indian swimmer to compete in two Olympics, finished 24th in men’s 200m butterfly heats.
Indian swimmer Sajan Prakash was unable to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics men's 200m butterfly semi-finals after he finished 24th out of 38 participants in the heats at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on Monday.
Competing in the second heat on Monday, Sajan Prakash clocked 1:57.22 seconds to finish fourth as Norway’s Tomoe Hvas topped the heat with 1:56.30 seconds. Sajan’s time was not enough to earn him a spot in the semi-finals as only the top 16 made the cut.
Sajan Prakash’s time was 0.84 seconds slower than his personal best of 1:56.38, a national record he set at the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome last month. His effort in Italy made Sajan the first Indian swimmer to achieve the Olympic Qualification Time (OQT).
Indian swimmers Srihari Nataraj and Maana Patel, who competed in the men’s and women’s 100m backstroke, respectively, too failed to match their personal bests in their heats on Sunday.
World record holder Kristof Milak of Hungary was the fastest in the 200m butterfly heats with a time of 1:53.58 seconds. Representing South Africa, Chad le Clos was the last swimmer to make the semi-finals. He clocked 1:55.96 seconds.
The 27-year-old Sajan is the first Indian swimmer to feature in two Olympics. He also participated in the Rio Games.
Earlier, Sajan had pulled out of the men’s 200m freestyle to concentrate on his main event, the 200m butterfly.
Sajan Prakash will now swim in the men’s 100m butterfly next on July 29.