FINA Scholarship holder Sajan Prakash of India clocked his best time last weekend in Singapore at the ultimate meet of the FINA/airweave Swimming World Cup 2017, when he came fifth in the 200m butterfly in 1:54.49.
South Africa’s Chad Le Clos won the race in 1:49.25, while Japanese Daiya Seto in and Masaki Kaneko took silver and bronze in respectively 1:50.19 and 1:52.23.
Breaking the national records on four occasions during the World Cup 2017, Sajan Prakash is the most prolific swimmer in India to this day and represent a huge hope for his country, a market with vast potential for the sport.
Back at the training camp with his coach Miguel Lopez, Sajan came back on his great race alongside overall Series winner Chad Le Clos (RSA).
“My main aim is to achieve a world class performance in or before 2020 and I realised I am not too far to do so.
“I realised it’s just small things I need to improve, like I need be more athletic and improve my technical stuff inside the water. “I started working on small things technically which make a big difference, like improving on athleticism and being consistent and focused after every race helped me to achieve this time in 200m fly.” Sajan finds his motivation competing next to the biggest names in swimming.
“Since I have been competing in the same events than Chad, which is since 2014, I had never really been in the same line up with top swimmers like him or Daiya Seto.
“I respect their commitment to the sport and they are my inspiration at this level of swimming. It was great swimming next to these legends. They motivate to do many more things for my country.”
But Sajan admits that dealing with this type of pressure on his shoulders is not always easy. “I am proud of representing India. In the past days, I have learnt that pressure is something that we create within ourselves and being pressurised never helped me perform well either.
“So when I train I make sure I am having fun.” With 2020 in mind, Sajan is determined to reach the goals he has set himself.
“Being competitive and trying different things during training also helped me achieve at this level. Honestly, I will do anything to get an A-cut towards the 2020 Olympics and make the final and hopefully a podium finish.”