India’s Maana Patel became the first female and only the third swimmer from the country to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics 2021. Patel, a backstroke swimmer from Ahmedabad, qualified for the event and secured a direct entry. Maana will take part in the 100m backstroke at the Tokyo Games and is the third Indian swimmer to have qualified after both Srihari Nataraj and Sajan Prakash achieved Olympic Qualification Timing (OQT) ‘A’ level recently
Patel, 21, is a decorated athlete having won gold medals in 50 m backstroke and 200 meter backstroke also at the National Games. She also clinched gold in 100 meter backstroke at the 60th National School Games (2015) breaking the national record in backstroke.
