Maana Patel, first Indian female swimmer to qualify for Tokyo Olympics

Maana Patel has become the first Indian female swimmer to qualify for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics confirmed Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Friday. Maana will take part in the

Maana Patel has become the first Indian female swimmer to qualify for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics confirmed Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Friday.

Maana will take part in the 100 m backstroke at the Tokyo Games and is the third Indian swimmer to have qualified after Srihari Nataraj and Sajan Prakash achieved Olympic Qualification Timing (OQT) ‘A’ level recently.

“Many congratulations to backstroke swimmer Maana Patel Woman swimming who becomes the 1st female and third Indian swimmer to qualify for #TokyoOlympics. Patel qualified through universality quota,” SAI Media.

It is to be mentioned that in June, the Swimming Federation of India (SFI) had announced Maana Patel as one of their nominations for the Universality Places for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The nominations were communicated to FINA on June 20 through the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

Participation in swimming events at the Olympics Games Tokyo 2020 is being governed by the qualification pathway published by the world body of aquatics viz FINA. The FINA qualification pathway provides for two (2) qualification times i.e. Olympic qualification time (A time) and Olympic Selection time (B time).

Any swimmer achieving the A time at a FINA-approved competition within the qualification period will get an automatic berth for the respective event. Any swimmer achieving the B time in a similar fashion may receive an invitation by FINA to participate depending on the remaining quota places to be decided after accounting for all A quota, relay only, and Universality Places.

The FINA qualification pathway provides for “Universality Place” for one man & one woman, provided no swimmer from the country has achieved an A qualification time in that gender.

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