Rio Olympics: Indian swimmers sink without trace

Rio de Janeiro: Swimmers Shivani Kataria and Sajan Prakash sank without a trace in the high voltage Olympic competition here on Monday. In a field in which world's best were in action, the two Indians were clearly awestruck by the occasion and predictably got splashed away in their respective events in which they clocked timing which they will not like to tell even their supporters. With only the top 16 making it to the semis, Shivani finished 41st with a timing of 2:09.30 in the women's 200m freestyle heats, second from bottom. Sajan was placed 28th in men's 200m butterfly with a timing of 1:59.37, also second from bottom. The two swimmers were selected for the Olympics through the Universality Rule, which allows one male and one female competitor to participate provided the swimmer has participated in the last World Championship. It remains to be seen whether participation will help them in future or they will be so demoralised by their display that it may take a long time for them to recover.