Swimming

Amar Muralidharan is an Indian swimmer who has earned 6 National Titles. He held the 200 M Butterfly & Freestyle National Titles from 2000-2004. He has won a silver medal at the first Afro Asian Games held at Hyderabad India in 2003 and 3 gold medals at South Asian Games held at Islamabad Pakistan.

Anita Sood-Mankar (born January 18, 1966) is a former national woman swimming champion of India. She became the fastest Asian swimmer to cross the English Channel with a time of 8 hours and 15 minutes on August 17, 1987, becoming the 333rd person to swim the channel. She was awarded Arjuna Award for her achievements.

Ankur Poseria (born 16 March 1987) is an Indian-American swimmer, who specialized in butterfly events. He is an Indian record holder in the 100 m butterfly, until it was eventually broken by his fellow swimmer Virdhawal Khade at the 2009 Asia Age Group Championships in Tokyo, Japan.

Anshul Ketan Kothari (born 17 December 1989) is an Indian competitive swimmer who has represented India in Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.

Arati Gupta (born Arati Saha; 24 September 1940 – 23 August 1994) was an Indian long-distance swimmer who became the first Asian woman to swim across the English Channel on 29 September 1959, at the age of 19. In 1960, she became the first Indian sportswoman to be awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honor in India.

Arjun Muralidharan (born 14 May 1987) is an Indian swimmer who has earned 15 national titles. He is widely considered as one of the greatest butterfly swimmers of India. He has also been the best swimmer in three consecutive Open National Championships from 2004–2006 and held all three (50, 100, 200 m) butterfly National titles for four years from 2004-2007 as well as all three (50, 100, 200 m) backstroke National titles in the year 2006.

Bhakti Sharma (born 30 November 1989) is an Indian Open water swimmer. She is the first Asian woman and the youngest in the world to set a record in open swimming in Antarctic waters. 14 minutes, at a temperature of 1 °C (34 °F), breaking the record of Lynne Cox (USA) and Lewis Pugh (Great Britain).

Bimal Chandra (19 November 1927 – 17 February 1998) was an Indian swimmer. He competed in two events at the 1948 Summer Olympics.

Bula Choudhury (born 2 January 1970 in Hugli, India) is an Indian former swimmer. She is an Arjuna awardee, Padma Shri awardee, former India national women's swimming champion and elected as MLA from 2006 to 2011 representing Nandanpur in West Bengal state of India.

Damini Gowda (born 20 February 1999) is an Indian swimmer. She competed in the women's 100 metre butterfly event at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships. She also participated at the 2016 South Asian Games and won four gold medals.

Dhinidhi Desinghu (born 17 May 2010) is an Indian swimmer from Karnataka. She specialises in 200m freestyle. She also competes in 100m freestyle and 200m individual medley.

Dilip Mitra (1926–1992) was an Indian swimmer. He competed in the men's 100 metre freestyle at the 1948 Summer Olympics.

Dolly Rustom Nazir nee Byramji (1935–2012) was an Indian swimmer. She competed in two events at the 1952 Summer Olympics. Nazir won Long Distance Open Sea Championships in Bombay in 1948 at the age of 13 and repeated the win the next year.

Elvis Ali Hazarika (born 21 December 1981) is an Indian swimmer from Assam. Hazarika started swimming at the age of one and a half and swam across Dighalipukhuri in Guwahati at the age of four. He participated in the Asia Pacific Championship at the age of nine and represented India in the SAF Games.

Adaveeshaiah Puttaveeraswamy Gagan Ullalmath (Kannada: ಗಗನ್ ಉಳ್ಳಾಲಮಠ, born 8 January 1992), popularly known as Gagan Ullalmath, is an Indian swimmer. He was the only swimmer to represent India in the 2012 London Olympics. He finished 7th in heat 1 of 1500 m freestyle event with a time of 16:31:14 and was eventually knocked out at last position 31st.

Hakimuddin Shabbir Habibulla (born 25 September 1979) is an Indian former swimmer, who specialized in middle-distance freestyle events. He represented India at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Kanchanmala D Pande is a blind international female swimmer. She has won several medals at international, National and State level since she was a child. Her current medal tally stands at 120 including 115 gold, 4 silver and 1 bronze at international, national and state levels.

Khajan Singh (also Khajan Singh Tokas) (born 6 May 1964) is an Indian swimmer, who remained national swimming champion of India, and won a silver medal at the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul. He was awarded an Arjuna Award by Government of India in 1984.

Maana Patel (born 18 March 2000) is an Indian backstroke swimmer from Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Masudur Rahman Baidya (Bengali: মাসুদুর রহমান বৈদ্য) (1968 – 26 April 2015) was an Indian swimmer who was the world's first physically disabled swimmer to swim across the Strait of Gibraltar.

Meghana Narayan (born 11 May 1984 in Pune, Maharashtra, India) is an international swimming champion. She was also one of India's Rhodes Scholars in 2000, and currently works as a management consultant in London.

Mihir Sen (16 November 1930 – 11 June 1997) was a famous Indian long distance swimmer and lawyer. He was the first Asian to conquer the English Channel from Dover to Calais in 1958, and did so in the fastest time (14 hrs & 45 mins). He was the only man to swim the oceans of the five continents in one calendar year (1966).

Murlikant Petkar (born 1 November 1944) is India's first Paralympic gold medalist. He won an individual gold medal in the 1972 Summer Paralympics, in Heidelberg, Germany. 33 seconds.

Nafisa Ali (Bengali pronunciation: [ˈnafiˌsa ˈali]) is an Indian actress, politician, social activist, and former beauty queen. She won the Eve’s Weekly Miss India title and represented India at the Miss International pageant, where she was the second runner-up. She earned critical acclaim for her performances in films such as Junoon and Life in a...

Nalin Chandra Malik (born 1910, date of death unknown) was an Indian swimmer. He competed in two events at the 1932 Summer Olympics. Malik also worked as a trainer at a swimming club located at Rabindra Sarobar.

Nina Venkatesh (born 2005) is an Indian swimmer from Karnataka. She competes in the 50m and 100m butterfly events and is the Indian record holder in both the events. She represented India in swimming at the 2022 Asian Games at Hangzhou, China.

Nisha Millet (born 20 March 1982) is a swimmer from Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. An Arjuna Award winner, she was the only woman in the 2000 Sydney Olympics swim team for India.

Poorva Kiran Shetye (born 12 March 1993), is an Indian International Swimmer, who is specialized in 50 m, 100 m and 200 m breaststroke. Poorva still holds the National Record at the National Games for 50 m Breast Stroke. Poorva was awarded Maharashtra government's most prestigious "Shiv Chhatrapati Award" in 2008 by the then Chief Minister, Prithviraj Chavan.

Prabhat Raju Koli (born 27 July 1999) is an Indian open water swimmer based in Mumbai. In 2018, Koli was awarded with the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award, which was presented by Ramnath Kovind, the President of India. He was also awarded with Shiv Chhatrapati Award by the Maharashtra government.

Prafulla Mullick (1919–1974) was an Indian swimmer. He competed in the men's 200 metre breaststroke at the 1948 Summer Olympics.

Prasana Karmakar is an Indian Para swimmer. He won 2 Bronze medals in 2014 Incheon Asian Games. He is also known for representing India as the swimming team coach for 2016 RIO Paralympic games.

Rehan Jahangir Poncha (born 3 August 1986) is an Indian former swimmer, Olympian, Arjuna Award winner and a six-time national champion, who specialized in backstroke, butterfly, and individual medley events. He is also the recipient of the Eklavya Award from the Karnataka Olympic Association. He is a 6-time Indian swimming champion, and a 6-time record holder in the butterfly (both 100 and 200 m).

Rohit Rajendra Havaldar (born in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India) is an Indian swimmer. Rohit Havaldar has achieved many swimming records and has won many medals both at the nationals and state competitions. He competed in Telstra grand prix Olympic trials in July.

Rupali Ramdas Repale (born 3 February 1982 in Mumbai), is an Indian open-water long-distance swimmer and triathlete. She swam the English Channel in the solo swim category on 15 August 1994 in a time span of 16 hours and 7 minutes, making her the youngest successful swimmer (12 years old) to cross the English Channel for the year 1994. She swam a total of seven straits during the course of her swimming career, Gibraltar Strait, Palk Strait, Bass Strait, Cook Strait, Robben Island Channel and Mumbai-Dharamtar Channel.

Sajan Prakash (born 14 September 1993) is an Indian swimmer who specialises in freestyle, butterfly and medley events. He represented India at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 200 m butterfly event. 38.

Sandeep Sejwal (born 23 January 1989) is an Indian swimmer who has participated in Olympics 2008. He contested in the men's 100 m and 200 m breaststroke events at the 2010 Asian Juniors in Beijing, but did not reach the finals in both events. He won the bronze medal in 2014 Asian Games in 50 m breaststroke.

Sangeeta Puri (born 4 December 1979) is a former swimmer who competed for India in the Olympic Games and Trinidad and Tobago at the Pan American Games. She was the first female swimmer to represent India in the Olympics, breaking the glass ceiling for future female swimmers in India to compete at that level. 68, which was a national record for Trinidad and Tobago for over 23 years.

Sayani Ghosh (born 13 January 1999) is an Indian competitive swimmer. She won a gold medal in the 400-metre individual medley at the 2016 South Asian Games. Her primary disciplines are the individual medley and breaststroke.

Sebastian Xavier (born 10 February 1970) is a former Indian swimmer from Kerala.

Shamsher Khan (1933 – 15 October 2017) was an Indian swimmer who represented India in the 1956 Summer Olympics. In 1954, he made a national record in the 200-meter butterfly event. He broke the existing national record at the national meet in Bangalore in 1955.

Sharath M. Gayakwad is an Indian Paralympic swimmer from Bangalore. At the 2014 Asian Games, he broke P.T. Usha's record for most number of medals by an Indian at any multi-discipline Event by winning 6 medals.

Shikha Tandon (born 20 January 1985) is an Indian former swimmer from Bangalore, India. Tandon has won 146 national medals, and 36 medals in international competitions, including five gold medals. Currently, she is a member of USADA’s science team, assisting in the daily operation, development, and maintenance of the resources, reporting, and projects critical to USADA’s scientific initiatives.

Shivani Kataria (born 27 September 1997) is an Indian swimmer. She competes in the women's 200m freestyle. She represented India at 2016 Summer Olympics .

Shrichand Bajaj (1 October 1933 – 20 July 2005) was an Indian swimmer. He competed in the men's 100 metre freestyle at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

Srihari Nataraj (born 16 January 2001) is an Indian swimmer. A two time Olympian, he has represented India at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2024 Paris Olympics. As of 2025, he holds 14 Indian national swimming records across different events.

Supra Agarwal née Singhal (born 2 March 1982, in Kampala) is a former Ugandan-Indian swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She competed in the women's 100 m freestyle at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Supriya Mondal (born 12 January 1997) is an Indian swimmer and trains at the Dolphin Academy, Bangalore under coach Nihar Ameen who has trained Olympians like Virdhawal Khade and Sandeep Sejwal. Srikanth is supported by the GoSports Foundation, Bangalore and has been part of their scholarship programme since 2012.

Taranath Narayan Shenoy, is a deaf and visually impaired Indian swimmer and an honoree of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame. He is a winner of the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming, having successfully completed the English Channel, Catalina Channel and the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri in 1990.

The National Centre of Excellence (NCoE) for Swimming at the Amingaon Sports Complex in Kamrup district was inaugurated on 28 August 2026; the news reports describe the arrangement but publish no admission rules yet. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma inaugurated the centre, built by the Assam Government at a cost reported as ₹50 crore. An agreement signed on 29 August 2026 hands the operation of the centre to the Sports Authority of India for 30 years, according to the Chief Minister; the news reports name SAI, the Sports Authority of Assam and the Badminton Association of India as the signatories. SAI will manage the centre, recruit coaches and support staff, provide sports equipment and organise training camps and competitions. It is the first NCoE for swimming in the North East. The complex has an Olympic-size competition pool, a practice pool, diving facilities, seating for about 1,500 spectators and a gym.

A two-year postgraduate program affiliated with a university to provide advanced research and technical expertise in coaching.

A Sports Authority of India Centre for Para Sports under its National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) Scheme at the SAI Netaji Subhas Western Centre (Regional Centre) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. A Ministry reply in the Rajya Sabha (24 March 2022) says the centre is operational in athletics, swimming, powerlifting and table tennis, and a reply of 6 February 2025 says the centre is actively training para athletes in athletics, swimming and other listed disciplines (the available text of that reply is cut off after swimming). An older SAI circular described a Centre of Excellence (Para) scheme at this centre with a strength of 65 para athletes (40 boys and 25 girls) in athletics, badminton, powerlifting, swimming and table tennis; badminton is not in the Ministry's 2022 list, so check which disciplines are current. A 2025 Press Information Bureau release says para athletes train at SAI centres in Sonepat and Gandhinagar with coaches, nutritionists, diet and recovery support.

On 8 September 2026 the Maharashtra Cabinet approved a revised policy for the 5 per cent parallel reservation for meritorious sportspersons in direct recruitment in state government and semi-government bodies. Sports included in at least three consecutive Summer Olympic Games after 2005 qualify, and Kabaddi, Kho-Kho, Chess, Mallakhamb and Cricket have been added as regional sports. Under the revised policy, sports certificates must be verified through a digital Sports E-Certificate system within three months, and earlier government resolutions on the quota were rescinded.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), a Government of India enterprise, gives monthly scholarships to economically weaker young sportspersons who have the potential to excel in sport, in games including badminton, boxing, wrestling, kabaddi, chess, athletics and para sports. This is a public-sector company scheme, not a government department scheme. A scholarship is awarded for one year and can be extended up to two years based on annual performance. The number of scholarships is fixed game by game; for the 2025-26 round, for example, badminton had 6 (3 for men and 3 for women) and kabaddi had 20.

NHPC Limited, a Government of India enterprise, offers a sports scholarship to promising young players aged 14 to 19 years (14 to 24 years for para sports) in 16 games, to encourage their talent and build a talent pool during their formative years of education. This is a public-sector company scheme, not a government department scheme. Up to 32 scholarships are provided, two in each game, in two categories, Elite Scholar and Scholar, for a period of three years.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), a Government of India enterprise, offers 100 para-sports scholarships (50 for men, 50 for women) in two categories, Para Scholar and Elite Para Scholar, across 16 para games including badminton. This is a public-sector company scheme, not a government department scheme. A scholarship runs for a maximum of three years, with a performance review after each year.

A flagship annual multi-disciplinary grassroots event held to identify and nurture young sporting talent at the school and college level across India.