Arjuna Award winner Sajan Prakash rewires training programme with sharp focus

He calls his pursuit of the Asian Games swimming medal as the one last push and is hoping to find the right conditions to train. Aware that such podium finishes are hard to achieve, he has rewired his training programme. A recent Arjuna Award winner, Sajan Prakash, now 31 aspires to become only the fourth Indian in more than six decades to win an Asian Games medal.

“There is a purpose that drives me to keep chasing that medal. I am motivated and will target a 1:55 in 200m Butterfly in the Asian Games in Japan next year,” he says, days after he won a gold, a silver and two bronze medals in the Uttarakhand 2025 National Games in Haldwani. The four medals took his all-time National Games medal count to 29, including 15 gold.

“I am aiming for a 1:55 time in the 200 Fly in Aichi-Nagoya. That means I will have to lower my personal best from 1:56.38,” he said, setting the benchmark for himself. He had finished fifth in Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games on July 25, 2023, clocking 1:57.44. He had a similar placing in 2018 in Jakarta and wants to make it third time lucky.

Sajan Prakash recalled a moment from 2014 that continues to drive him. “I was always driven by wanting to do something for the country. When I met Sandeep (Sejwal) on his return from the Asian Games in 2014, I gave him a hug and had tears in my eyes. I have been wanting to do something like that,” he said.

“I am aware that I have less power to do the sprints and that I am an endurance athlete. I am trained to swim multiple events, but when it comes to 200 Fly, I need to be precise and work on the first half of the race. If I must open with a 54, my time in the 100m Butterfly event must be 52.00 seconds,” he said.

The Kerala Police officer showcased a deep understanding of what he needs to do.” I am working a lot on power and making my legs stronger for the 200m race. I am also mindful of my shoulder and working on improving it. Before the Olympic Games in 2021, Coach Miguel made me do a lot of dryland work on my legs in Thanyapura in Thailand,” he said. 

“After Tokyo, I have not worked as much on skills and have not been productive since we were focused on the end result.  We did not focus on sharpening skills, being result-oriented in our approach ahead of the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and Asian Games in 2023.  Now, I am more mindful of the simple things that can make me get that 1:55,” he said.

“After the Tokyo Olympic Games, I have never had a great support system that would help me look after my shoulder. People praise us athletes a lot when we win and when we do not finish on the podium, they criticise us immediately and withdraw support,” he said, uncomplainingly and accepting it as part of a high performance athlete’s challenges. 

He made no bones about the reason he pushed himself in the recent National Games competition. “Winning is always special but more so in the National Games since our State Government rewards us. It is nice to be back and enjoying the racing despite not being in the condition that I would have liked to be. I knew even the 200m would be tough to win,” he said.

“I am happy with what I did when I look at the amount of training that I did.  I resumed training only on January 1 and I had to lose weight before I went to the National Games swimming competition in Haldwani. I had to break my training since I had to travel to Delhi to receive the Arjuna Award that the Government gave me,” he said. 

He vividly recalled his National Games debut in Ranchi on 2011. “It clashed with my 12th standard Board examinations. I qualified second in the 50m Butterfly heats but had to skip the final that evening because I had my mathematics exam the following day. My flight to Chennai took off around the time of the final. I had a long drive to Neyveli to write the exam,” he said. 

“Winning six gold for Kerala was a breakthrough in 2015. Breaking Rehan Poncha’s National record was something I cherish. It gave a vision towards Olympic qualification. The National Games in Gujarat in 2022 and Goa in 2023 came at the end of the season. I swam both with my shoulder not being in the best shape,” he said, summing up his National Games experience. 

Sajan Prakash said he was expecting to clock 1:59 in the 200m Butterfly final in Haldwani. “I was on course till the 150m mark but the last 50 hurt. I found there was no one on my shoulders and I content myself with finishing in 2:01. It is a decent time in the light of the inadequate training. The last 50 is about pain tolerance and I did not have it,” he said. 

“It offers me something to work on,” he said, breaking his race down. “My dive has got weaker with time and a physiologist is coming from Brazil to Inspire Institute of Sport, Bellary, where I am training now. He will help me see how I can make improve my lactic tolerance, VO2 max  and explosiveness. I will also work on sustaining the intensity on each of the three turns.”

It is with such clarity that one of India’s longest serving swimmers is embarking on the quest for the Asian Games medal.