The Swimming Federation of India president R.N. Jayaprakash on Monday announced a cash reward of ₹5 lakh for Sajan Prakash who became the first Indian swimmer to earn a direct qualification for the Olympics.
“SFI president Shri R N Jayaprakash announced a personal cash award of ₹5 lac to Sajan Prakash, who is the first Indian to achieve the Olympic ‘A’ qualification time in 200m butterfly event at the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome,” SFI said in a statement.
The Tokyo Games will be the Kerala swimmer’s second Olympics, having competed in 2016 through a Universality quota.
A day after Prakash’s feat, Srihari Nataraj breached the ‘A’ standard time by clocking 53.77s in the men’s 100m backstroke at the same meet. Since his effort came at a time trial, his participation in Tokyo will be confirmed only if FINA approves the timing.
