Meet the top para-swimmers of India who can inspire us in many different ways

Vishwas KS

This brave Bangalore man lost both his hands and his father in a tragic electrocution incident at the age of 10. “I never thought I could swim without hands. I used to go to the swimming pool with my friends and watch them swim. But one fine day I decided to swim and from then I was determined and wanted to prove that it is possible to swim even without hands. I wanted to be a role model for those like me and inspire them to go ahead.”

“The first challenges that I faced while learning how to swim were controlling my breath, opening my eyes and moving my legs underwater. But finally, I was able to swim properly after intensive training.” Later in 2015 Vishwas won 4 silver medals at the state level and 3 silver medals at the national level para-swimming competition. After which Sports Authority of India (SAI) chose him to compete in Canada, where he made India proud by winning three medals (2 silver and 1 bronze) at the 2016 Speedo Can-Am Para-swimming Championships.

“An NGO known as ‘AASTHA’ whose founder Sunil Jain himself is physically challenged and wheel chaired, has been a great support to me and other athletes like me. Para swimmers like Sharath Gayakwad and advisors like Scindia Sir, Dabaaz Sir and John Sir have inspired me throughout.”

Vishwas dreams of representing India at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. He believes that to achieve a goal one has to be strongly determined and physically challenged people are in no way inferior to the able-bodied.

Prasanta Karmakar

Last but not the least, Prasanta Karmakar has been the face of Indian para-swimming for many years. He is considered as one of the pioneers of modern day para swimming of India. He is the very first Indian para-swimmer to win a medal in aquatics at World Swimming Championships (2003) and the Commonwealth Games (2010). He was also the most decorated Indian swimmer at the 2009 IWAS World Games held in Bangalore winning 4 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze medals. He lost his right hand in a road accident when he was just seven years old.

“I remember in 2010, after I won a medal at the Common Wealth Games, I had requested the Prime Minister to give at least 1% of the sports quota preferences to the Paralympians. But it has been 6 years and till now that preference has not been given. I talked to the Railway Secretary at the Railway Department to provide jobs to the Asian Games medalists(para-athletes), but unless and until a Minister or a high ranked government official is involved there would be no such work done for us. Things have, however, changed now and the government is giving their 100% for the betterment of the para athletes.”

Prasanta has won many awards in para swimming which include; Arjuna Award, Major Dhyan Chand Sports Award, Bheem Award, State Role Model Award, Achiever Award and Swimmer of the year Award for four years.

“In 2004 Paralympics, Devendra Jhajharia had won a gold medal and had set a new world record in Javelin throw, but, unfortunately, he got rewarded for his achievements only after Delhi 2010 CWG. But now after 2010 CWG, the government has started working positively towards the welfare of the para athletes. They have started constructing a Paralympic sports village, Gandhinagar SAI has been declared as the Nodal Centre, 100 crore rupees have been invested to set up a Paralympic Centre at Gandhinagar. Apart from this, Paralympic specialised SAI centres have been set up at places like Gwalior, Bhubaneshwar and Vishakhapatnam.”

The new generation of para-swimmers look up to Karmakar as their idol and he is doing his bit by training the new swimmers and working for the upliftment of the para athletes.

“Now even the para-athletes like me have taken up their jobs as coaches and have started motivating the new generation. I have been training paralympic swimmers for the Indian team. Currently, I have 18 young swimmers who are preparing for Asian Games, 2020 And 2024 Paralympics and I strongly believe if I keep on working like this for the nation, India will surely win medals at these events.”

Joey Reiman once very rightly said, “What I learned was that these athletes were not disabled, they were superabled. The Olympics is where heroes are made. The Paralympics is where heroes come.” It is fallacious to believe that only the physically normal can succeed in life. With strong will power, determination and perseverance even the differently-abled have acquired what the physically abled ones have not been able to achieve.

It takes a lot of courage to overcome your weaknesses and succeed in life. After all, it does not matter how much you have, the only thing that matters is what you have and how you use it.