India’s fastest swimmer Kushagra Rawat has taken a giant leap towards qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the World Championship as he attained the ‘B’ mark in the recently concluded Speedo Thailand Age Group swimming championships in Bangkok in the 800m freestyle event.
The Olympics ‘B’ standard qualifying time is 8:08.54 for the men’s 800m freestyle event whereas Rawat touched the finish line in 8:07:99. Moreover, he also crossed the ‘B’ standard of the 2019 FINA World Championships for which he had to clock below 08:10:91.
In the swimming events of the Olympics and the World Championships, if all the quotas aren’t filled by the athletes in the ‘A’ division, the opportunity is given to those who have attained the ‘B’ mark.
“As of now, it is not 100 per cent guaranteed that he will take part in the Olympics or World Championships, but he has a taken a step towards doing that,” said an official.
Kushagra’s efforts have not only made him achieve the ‘B’ mark in the 800m freestyle but also that in 400m freestyle event for the World Championships.
Kushagra joined the SAI Glenmark TIDM academy in 2016 and that time, his best time in the 800m freestyle event was 08:49:24. Since then, he has shed around 42 seconds in three years to become the fastest swimmer in India.
