# Swimming in India

Swimming is widely practiced in India, but only leisurely and not commonly as a professional sport.
Swimming sport in India is administered by the Swimming Federation of India. SFI was formed by the merger of the National Swimming Association (NSA) and the Indian Swimming Federation (ISF).
Indian swimmer Srihari Nataraj won silver in the 50m backstroke event at the 30th Mare Nostrum swimming tour at the Canet-en-Roussillon, France.

## Background

In 2020 SFI prepared a plan for the long-term development of the sport. A workshop was organised in 2021 with Dr. Genadijus Sokolovas. In 2024, the Inspire Institute of Sport launched the Mizuho High Performance Swimming Programme in partnership with Mizuho Bank.

## Olympics

Sajan Prakash and Srihari Nataraj achieved direct qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, a feat never achieved by any Indian swimmer before. Dhinidhi Desinghu, the youngest member of the Indian Olympic contingent, and Srihari Nataraj will represent India in swimming at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

## Asian Games

India has won one gold in the Asian Games, which was bagged by Sachin Nag in the 100m freestyle at the inaugural edition in New Delhi. The country has won two silver and 6 bronze overall, the latest being Sandeep Sejwal's bronze in the 2014 Asiad in Incheon, South Korea. India sent a 23-member contingent, including 9 women to the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. The Indian swimmers qualified for the finals of three events and set seven national records in Hangzhou, but did not win any medals.

## Commonwealth games

India has won one bronze at the Commonwealth Games.

## Medal table

| Tournament | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| Asian Games | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Commonwealth Games | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 1 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
* Updated till 5 August 2024

## National award recipients

| Year | Recipient | Award | Gender |
| 1961 | Bajarangi Prasad | Arjuna Award | Male |
| 1966 | Rima Dutta | Arjuna Award | Female |
| 1967 | Arun Shaw | Arjuna Award | Male |
| 1969 | Baidyanath Nath | Arjuna Award | Male |
| 1971 | Bhanwar Singh | Arjuna Award | Male |
| 1973 | Dhanvir Khatau | Arjuna Award | Male |
| 1974 | Manjari Bhargava | Arjuna Award | Female |
| 1974 | Avinash B. Sarang | Arjuna Award | Male |
| 1975 | Smita Desai | Arjuna Award | Female |
| 1975 | M. S. Rana | Arjuna Award | Male |
| 1982 | Persis Madan | Arjuna Award | Female |
| 1983 | Anita Sood | Arjuna Award | Male |
| 1984 | Khajan Singh | Arjuna Award | Male |
| 1988 | Wilson Cherian | Arjuna Award | Male |
| 1990 | Bula Choudhury | Arjuna Award | Female |
| 1996 | V. Kutraleeswaran | Arjuna Award | Male |
| 1998 | Bhanu Sachdeva | Arjuna Award | Male |
| 1999 | Nisha Millet | Arjuna Award | Female |
| 2000 | J. Abhijith | Arjuna Award | Male |
| 2000 | Sebastian Xavier | Arjuna Award | Male |
| 2005 | Shikha Tandon | Arjuna Award | Female |
| 2010 | Rehan Poncha | Arjuna Award | Male |
| 2011 | Virdhawal Khade | Arjuna Award | Male |
| 2012 | Sandeep Sejwal | Arjuna Award | Male |
| 2011 | Sushil Kohli | Dhyan Chand Award | Male |
| 2014 | K. P. Thakkar | Dhyan Chand Award | Male |
| 2020 | Sachin Nag$^#$ | Dhyan Chand Award | Male |
| 2015 | Nihar Ameen $^+$ | Dronacharya Award | Male |
| 2016 | S. Pradeep Kumar $^+$ | Dronacharya Award | Male |
| 2021 | Tapan Kumar Panigrahi $^+$ | Dronacharya Award | Male |
Key :
| + Indicates a Lifetime contribution honour | # Indicates a posthumous honour |