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From disqualification to delight: the story of Maana Patel’s Tokyo journey
The 100m backstroke national record holder has bagged a berth through the ‘Universality Places’ quota
New Delhi: Maana Patel has seen the high and low of sport in a short time -- be it dealing with injuries or being disqualified for a false start. The 21-year-old took that in her stride to make a brilliant comeback in the 100m backstroke this year, setting a national record. And now Patel has sealed an Olympics berth.
Patel spent anxious moments over the past two days waiting to see if she would make it through the ‘Universality Places’ quota – that qualifies one man and one woman provided no swimmer from the country has achieved an A qualification time. Two Indian male swimmers –Sajan Prakash and Srihari Nataraj – have qualified through A standard. Patel was nominated by the Swimming Federation of India for a quota place.
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“I am actually thrilled, humbled and honoured to represent my country. It is a very surreal feeling and I am looking forward to some fast swims and making my personal best at the Olympics,” said Patel who is from Ahmedabad.
Chasing the 100m backstroke A qualification mark (1:00.25sec), Patel set a national record of 1:03.77sec at Belgrade Trophy in Serbia on June 20, improving her own mark of 1:04.21 set in 2015.
That was her breakthrough year when she set national records in 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke. She still holds all three records. That followed a long phase of struggle with injuries and a lack of confidence.
Patel had a shoulder injury and then hurt her ankle. “It’s been a bumpy path, a crazy ride (but) a memorable one indeed,” she said.
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“After the left shoulder injury in 2017 I had a fall in the gym and injured my ankle in December of 2019. The first few months of lockdown were good because my body got some rest, so I could return fully recovered.”
Patel returned to competition earlier this year at the Uzbekistan Open and clocked 1:04.47 for a gold medal in 100m backstroke.
“The timing was pretty good, considering it was my first race after lockdown. But I made few mistakes. I corrected them and was very happy with my performance at the Belgrade Open. There is enough room for improvement.”
She has come a long way from a low phase in her career from 2017 onward.
“I was heartbroken when I was disqualified in the final of senior national championships in 2019 and that too in my main event --100m backstroke – for a false start. My starts are good, I have the fastest reaction time so I did not pay that much attention. I was anxious and eager to step in. I am mindful of it now,” said Patel.
