Which Indian player has won the Gold Medal in Men's 200 mtrs. Butterfly Swimming Event held in Copenhagen in April 2022 ?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — A, Sajan Prakash. At the Danish Open held in Copenhagen from 15 to 19 April 2022, Sajan Prakash won the gold medal in the men's 200 metres butterfly on 15 April 2022, clocking 1:59.27. It was his first international meet of that season, and it came less than two months before the 12 June 2022 exam, which is why the paper could ask it as current affairs. Sajan Prakash is the natural answer on background as well as on the result sheet: the 200 metres butterfly is his event, and in June 2021 at Rome he became the first Indian swimmer ever to breach a FINA Olympic 'A' qualification time, in 1:56.38 — a national record — and the first Indian swimmer to qualify for two consecutive Olympic Games, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. At the same Danish Open meet, Vedaant Madhavan took silver in the 1500 metres freestyle. All of this is anchored to April 2022 as the exam asked it; later results in Indian swimming are not claimed here.

Why the other options are wrong — (b) This is a woman's given name, and the question asks specifically for the winner of the men's 200 metres butterfly — so the option can be struck out on the face of the stem, whoever it is meant to refer to. The Copenhagen gold in that event went to Sajan Prakash.  (c) Sandeep Sejwal is a genuine Indian international swimmer, but he is a breaststroke specialist, not a butterfly swimmer, so he is not a candidate for the 200 metres butterfly title. The paper is testing whether you attach the right stroke to the right name.  (d) Srihari Nataraj is one of India's leading swimmers and, like Sajan Prakash, an Olympic 'A' qualifier — but his events are the backstroke. He is the sharpest distractor precisely because the two names travel together in reports of Indian swimming's Olympic qualification, and a candidate who remembers only 'the Indian swimmer in the news' can pick the wrong one.

Concept: Competitive swimming is contested over four strokes — freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly — and swimmers specialise, so a name in Indian swimming is usually attached to one stroke. Sajan Prakash is India's butterfly swimmer, Srihari Nataraj its backstroke swimmer and Sandeep Sejwal a breaststroke swimmer. The qualification standards that matter for the Olympic Games are set by the world governing body for aquatics: the 'A' cut earns direct qualification, while the slower 'B' cut only makes a swimmer eligible for a universality place. No Indian had ever swum an 'A' cut until Sajan Prakash did so in the 200 metres butterfly at Rome in June 2021.

State PCS 2022 Q6 — Current Affairs PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2022 Q6 — Current Affairs PYQ with Answer