CHENNAI: In a big blow for Indian swimmer Srihari Nataraj, the Mare Nostrum meet in Monaco – an Olympic qualification event to be held on May 29 and 30 – will be out of bounds for him due to travel restrictions. Fellow swimmer Sajan Prakash, who is training in Dubai currently, is also unlikely to take part in the event given the quarantine norms in place.
Both Srihari and Sajan have achieved the B qualification mark for the Tokyo Olympics but need the A mark to seal direct qualification. The cut-off date for qualification is June 27. The other three Indian swimmers who have achieved the B qualification mark — Kushagra Rawat, Aryan Makhija and Advait Page — are training and participating in events in United States currently.
“The situation is grim. We were planning to send the swimmers for the Mare Nostrum Tour in Monaco at the end of May, but it is not possible for them to travel since the French government (swimmers will have to first reach France and then head to Monaco) is not allowing visitors from India,” Swimming Federation of India (SFI) secretary Monal Chokshi told this daily on Thursday.
While Sajan can travel for the event from Dubai, the issue is the 10-day quarantine period for travellers coming from outside Europe. “Efforts are still on for Sajan to go, but it looks unlikely. We are trying to have the French govt waive the quarantine requirement. If it doesn’t get waived, he also won’t travel since quarantining affects the performance,” the official informed.
To make matters worse for Srihari, he is unable to access the pool right now since he is in Bengaluru, where a strict lockdown is in place. With qualifying events in Turkey and Italy towards the end of June being the last chance for the swimmers to get direct entries, Chokshi is hopeful that the situation will improve next month.“If the Turkey and Italy events are not possible for Indian swimmers, we may host a trial event for Olympic hopefuls like Srihari, Sajan and SP Likith. The trial event will be done as an Olympic qualifying event approved by the International Swimming Federation (FINA). It would be a last resort,” he said. Meanwhile, the senior nationals, originally planned for June, has been postponed.