Till now no Indian swimmer has qualified for Tokyo Olympics. Let us look at the qualification process and Indian swimmers chances…
Qualification System:
Qualification process in Swimming is very similar to Athletics. Each event has a set qualifying standard. If an athletes achieves the Olympic qualification time(OQT), he/she qualifies. In an event, a country can qualify a maximum of 2 athletes.
One athlete per event can potentially enter if they meet the Olympic Selection Time (OST) or if the quota of 878 athletes has not been met.
Following the end of the qualification period, FINA will assess number of athletes who have achieved OQT, the number of relay-only swimmers, and the number of Universality places, before inviting athletes with OST to fulfill the total quota of 878. Additionally, OST places will be distributed by event according to the position of the FINA World Rankings during the qualifying deadline.
For relay events, top 12 teams in each relay event at 2019 World Championship qualify for the relay events at the Olympics; while the remaining four per relay event must obtain their fastest entry times based on the FINA World Rankings during the process.
Qualification period to achieve Olympic qualification times: 1 March 2019 to 27 June 2021
Indian Swimmers Chances
No Indian has reached the Olympic Qualification time till now. However, 6 Indian swimmers have achieved the Olympic Selection time (OST).
They have time till June to achieve Olympic Qualification time.
| Name | Event | OQT | OST | Current Best time |
| Srihari Natraj | 100 m Backstroke | 53.85 | 55.47 | 54.69 |
| Sajan Prakash | 200 m Butterfly | 1:56.48 | 1:59.97 | 1:58.45 |
| Advait Page | 800 m freestyle | 7:54.31 | 8:08.54 | 8:00.76 |
| Aryan Makhija | 800 m freestyle | 7:54.31 | 8:08.54 | 8:07.80 |
| Virdhawal Khade | 50 m freestyle | 22.01 | 22.67 | 22.44 |
| Kushagra Rawat | 400 m freestyle | 3:46.78 | 3:53.58 | 3:52.75 |
| Kushagra Rawat | 800 m freestyle | 7:54.31 | 8:08.54 | 8:07.99 |
| Kushagra Rawat | 1500 m freestyle | 15:00.99 | 15:28.02 | 15:25.22 |
Indian Swimmers are taking part in Uzbekistan Open Swimming Championship from April 12-17. It is a FINA-accredited Olympic qualifying competition. Indian swimmers would be looking to achieve the all important OQT.
Indian squad for Uzbekistan Open Championship:
Senior Squad: Srihari Nataraj (50 m & 100 m Backstroke),Sajan Prakash (200 m Butterfly, 200 m & 400 m Freestyle), Adhithya D (50 m & 100 m Butterfly), Likhit S P (50 m & 100 m Breaststroke), Dhanush S (50 m & 100 m Breaststroke), Anand A S (50 m & 100 m Freestyle), Maana Patel (50 m & 100 m Backstroke), Divya Sathija (50 m & 100 m Butterfly), Shivani Kataria (50 m, 100 m & 200 m Freestyle), Chahat Arora (50 m & 100 m Breaststroke)
Junior Squad: Kenisha Gupta (50 m, 100 m & 200 m Freestyle), Suvarna Bhaskar (50 m, 100 m & 200 m Backstroke), Tanish George Mathew (50 m, 100 m & 200 m Freestyle, 50 m, 100 m & 200 m Butterfly).
There is also talks of Swimming Federation of India (SFI) hosting an International Swimming Federation (FINA)-accredited competition in June in India. If that happens, it will provide a great opportunity for Indian swimmers to achieve qualification standard at home turf.
