Asian Games 2026: India’s full swimming contingent
India will send twelve swimmers to the Asian Games 2026.
India will send twelve swimmers to the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya and every single one of them is male, continuing a pattern that was already visible at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year when the country again fielded no women in the pool.
The squad sees some established Olympic experience with rising domestic talent, and it will compete at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre between September 20 and 25.
Srihari Nataraj leads the group in terms of pedigree. He swam at both the Tokyo and Paris Olympics and currently holds national marks in the 100m and 200m freestyle as well as the 50m and 100m backstroke, though at these Games he will race only the 50m backstroke.
Sajan Prakash, who will turn 33 during the competition, owns the national record in the 200m butterfly and swam at Rio 2016 and Tokyo. He takes on the 100m and 200m butterfly in Japan.
Full India swimming squad and events for the Asian Games 2026
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Vedaant Madhavan, son of actor R Madhavan and a 21-year-old who has swum collegiately in the United States, will race the 200m freestyle and 200m backstroke and features in the 4x200m freestyle relay too.
At the national championships in June he clocked a personal best of 1:53.89 in the 200m freestyle, finishing fourth.
Rohit has been in fine form domestically and stopped the clock at 23.63 seconds in men’s 50m butterfly.
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Distance swimmer Aryan Nehra, a former University of Florida athlete touched 7:59.30 in the 800m freestyle, and he also reset the 1500m freestyle mark at 15:14.88 during the same meet.
India will enter three relay teams at the Games, the 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m medley and 4x200m freestyle. Several of these swimmers, including Prakash and Nehra, reached finals at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last month.
The wait for an Asian Games swimming medal now stretches to twelve years for India. Sandeep Sejwal remains the last swimmer to reach the podium, taking bronze in the 50m breaststroke back at Incheon 2014, and the squad from Hangzhou 2023 returned empty handed despite setting six national records along the way.
Full India swimming squad, Asian Games 2026
- Rohit Benedicton – men’s 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay
- Rishabh Das – men’s 50m backstroke, 100m backstroke, 4x100m medley relay
- Vedaant Madhavan – men’s 200m backstroke, 200m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay
- Akash Mani – men’s 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay
- Srihari Nataraj – men’s 50m backstroke
- Aryan Nehra – men’s 800m freestyle, 1500m freestyle
- Utkarsh Santosh Patil – men’s 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke
- Sajan Prakash – men’s 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly
- Heer Gitesh Shah – men’s 50m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay
- Dhakshan Shashikumar – men’s 400m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay
- Aneesh Sunil Kumar Gowda – men’s 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x200m freestyle relay
- Danush Suresh – men’s 50m breaststroke, 100m breaststroke, 4x100m medley relay
How many swimmers has India sent to the Asian Games 2026?
India has named a 12-member swimming squad for the Games in Aichi-Nagoya, and every swimmer selected is male, continuing the trend seen at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year when no women were fielded either.
Who are the biggest names in India’s swimming squad?
Srihari Nataraj and Sajan Prakash carry the most experience, having both swum at multiple Olympics, while Vedaant Madhavan, the 21 year old son of actor R Madhavan, and record-breaking distance swimmer Aryan Nehra are among the other names to watch.
When did India last win a swimming medal at the Asian Games?
India’s last swimming medal at the Asian Games came in 2014, when Sandeep Sejwal took bronze in the 50m breaststroke at Incheon. The country has gone without a podium finish since, including at Hangzhou 2023 despite setting six national records there.
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