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Tokyo Olympics 2020: Maana Patel, India’s First Female Swimmer At The Summer Games
The Tokyo Olympics are all set to start from 23 July 2021, an event which was postponed in 2020 due to the pandemic. The Games will have several participants from all over the world. One such participant is 21-years-old Maana Patel. She has become the First Indian Female Swimmer to qualify for the Olympics. She will be competing in the Tokyo Olympics in the women's 100m Backstroke. She is quite excited to have won in this category after going through harsh lockdown and pool closures due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Patel's application was approved by world governing body FINA after some impressive performances in the last three months in European meets.
Upon
being
asked
how
she
feels
about
qualifying,
she
said
to
the
press
in
Ahmedabad,
"I
am
very,
very
thrilled."
"I
am
honoured
and
humbled
to
represent
my
country
at
the
Olympics
this
year.
But
I
believe
this
is
just
the
beginning
for
me
and
there
is
a
long
way
to
go.
Many
more
medals
to
win
for
India," she
added.
For those who don't know, the universality quota permits one male and female participant each from a country to take part in the Olympics. However, there's a catch in this quota. In order to qualify, no other swimmer belonging to the same gender should qualify for the competition after undergoing the normal selection process.
As
we
know,
the
COVID-19
outbreak
caused
a
major
loss
to
India.
The
country
had
to
undergo
a
nationwide
complete
lockdown.
This
compelled
the
athletes
in
India
to
stay
at
home
without
practising
for
their
competitions.
In
fact,
the
second
wave
hit
the
country
in
a
worse
manner.
Due
to
this,
the
pools
were
shut
down,
compelling
the
swimmers
to
avoid
practising
in
the
pools
for
the
Tokyo
Olympics.
Still,
Maana
Patel
made
it
to
the
Games
and
this
is
undoubtedly
wonderful.
Patel
recalled
her
struggle
with
the
preparations
during
the
COVID-19
outbreak.
She
said,
"The
Corona
period
was
very
difficult
for
all
of
us,
especially
for
swimmers
because
pools
were
shut
for
a
very
long
time
and
it
was
very
difficult
for
us
to
practice."
"I kept myself fit by exercising at home, eating clean and healthy food. I read good books to keep myself positive and calm."
Before this, Patel won a gold medal at a meet organised in April in Uzbekistan. She also won in Italy and Serbia. At the Belgrade meet, she set a new national record of 03.77 seconds in 100m backstroke. This was also her personal best in backstroke.
"When I was 13, I got the Indian best time in 150 and 250 metres backstroke and from then there has been no looking back."
After men's athletes, Srihari Nataraj and Sajan Prakash, Patel is the third Indian swimmer to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
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