This 21-year-old is the first Indian female swimmer to take part in Olympics. Maana Patel, hailing from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, began swimming at seven after her parents enrolled her in a swimming camp. She then realized her passion and true calling that led her to pursue professional training.
At the age of ten, she took training under Kamlesh Nanavati. Dronacharya national coach Nihar Ameen is now training her.
Manna Patel, the first Indian female swimmer who qualified for Tokyo Olympics. In her maiden Olympics outing, Maana competed in the women’s 100m backstroke event and finished with a time of 1.05.20 behind Zimbabwe’s Donata Katai, who clocked 1:02.73. Unfortunately, she could not qualify for the semifinals of the women’s 100m backstroke event as she finished second in her heat at the Tokyo Games.
The 21-year-old swimmer suffered an injury in 2019 and only made a comeback earlier this year.
She broke the national record of 2:26.41s at the Asian Age Group Championship in Tokyo in August 2009 when she was just 13. She also clocked 2:23.41s in the 200m backstrokes in Hyderabad’s 40th Junior National Aquatics Championship.
At the National Games, Maana also bagged gold medals in the 50-meter and 200-meter backstrokes. She also won gold in the 100 meters in the 60th National School Games (2015) for backstroke. At the 60th National School Games, Maana received a silver medal in the 4X100 meter freestyle relay.
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In 2015, she participated in the Olympic Gold Quest. At the 12th South Asian Games, she won silver in the 50, 100, and 200-meter backstroke; bronze in the 50-meter freestyle; gold in the 4100-meter freestyle relay; and bronze in the 4100-meter medley relay (2016). At the 2018 Senior National Aquatic Championships, Maana also won three gold medals.
She earned six medals at the 10th Asian Age-Group Championships-2019, which was held in Bangalore, including one gold, four silver, and one bronze. Manna Patel achieved 11 international, 61 national, and 75 state-level medals as of August 2016.
In the women’s 100m backstroke Heat 1, swimmer Maana Patel placed second out of three competitors; however, she did not qualify for the semifinals. Maana Patel finished with a time of 1:05.20, trailing Katai Donata of Zimbabwe, who advanced with a record of 1:02.73.
Manna Patel survived a career-threatening shoulder injury, lockdowns, and other setbacks, but she made sure to fulfill her goal of being an Olympian.