The Indian woman swimmer gets the ticket to the Olympics held in Tokyo under the university quota confirmed by the Swimming Federation of India (SFI).
Maana Patel is the third Indian swimmer selected for Tokyo Olympics after Srihari Nataraj and Sajan Prakash, which have achieved Olympic Qualification Timing (OQT).
Maana Patel will participate in 100m backstroke swimming style in the Tokyo games.
The university quota specifies that only one female and one male candidate is allowed to participate in Olympics through the university quota.
It also states: that no second candidate of the same gender is allowed to enter Olympics through the university quota or will get the FINA invitation through their selection time.
Maana stated when asked by Olympics.com that “It’s an amazing feeling. I have heard about the Olympics from fellow swimmers and watched it on the television and seen a lot of pictures.”The Indian Swimmer Gets the Ticket to Tokyo Olympics.
Maana continued, “But to be there this time, competing with the best in the world, gives me goosebumps.”
Maana also commented on when she faced an ankle injury in 2019 and just had got back in form “It was a tough year to come back after the injury.”
The Indian Swimmer Gets the Ticket to Tokyo Olympics
She continued, “Though the pandemic and lockdown was a blessing in disguise as it helped me recuperate well, then frustration crept in. I am not used to staying away from water for this long.”
She also commented on her first event of the year, which was held in Uzbekistan as the Open Swimming Championships in April, where she finished the race at the time of 1:04:47 seconds and won a gold medal for 100m backstrokes.
She stated, “I was happy with my timing in Uzbekistan. Nothing great. But to get in competitive racing and managing 1:04 was good. I knew I was on the right track.”
At Belgrade, she bettered her national mark of 100m backstrokes and clocked 1:03 seconds.
She made her comments, “I clocked 1:03 in Belgrade: the target is to go 1:02 or lower in Tokyo.”
She ended with the statement where she knows that the Olympics is all about gaining experience for her, and is looking forward to it.