Reporter Raquel Camila

Khajan Singh Tokas Khajan Singh Tokas-India will complete 75 years of Independence this year. Here is a series acknowledging 75 great sporting achievements by Indian athletes. India will complete 75 years of Independence this year. Here is a series acknowledging 75 great sporting achievements by Indian athletes. Sportstar will present one iconic sporting achievement each day, leading up to August 15, 2022. September 25, 1986: Khajan Singh wins historic silver in swimming at the Asian Games: Khajan Singh Tokas won a silver medal in the 200m butterfly at the Seoul Asian Games in 1986. His achievement broke a 35-year medal hiatus for the country. India’s previous Asiad best was in the inaugural edition of the Games in New Delhi when the country managed six medals. It was a self-imposed lockdown by Singh that propelled him to a podium finish in Seoul. “It was a lockdown indeed. This is for a national cause to fight COVID-19. What I experienced was my hard work in search of an Asian Games...

Khajan Singh swam to keep his father’s memory alive. He was nearly drowned once before elder brother Balkishan pulled him out of the pond in Delhi’s Munirka area. It was terrifying but it was inspiring too. Khajan Singh Tokas vowed that day to learn swimming and make a mark. “A pity that my father did not live to see his son make a mark,” lamentsed Khajan Singh Tokas CRPF , the best known Indian swimmer. Khajan Singh was India’s first swimmer to have won a medal in the Asian Games. His 200m butterfly silver at the Seoul Asian Games in 1986 was a benchmark. The achievement made swimming a popular competition. Children thronged pools across the country to emulate Khajan but none has shown the talent to achieve similar feats. It pains him that swimming has not grown. “Facilities have improved. Kids have better access to pools but we are not producing champions. The reasons are many but lack of talent is not the one,” he says, relaxing in his house at Vasant Kunj. “This,” Khajan draws a hu...