Anshul Kothari
| Anshul Kothari | |
|---|---|
 Kothari, after winning a gold medal in 4x100 Freestyle relay at the 8th Asian age group Championships, Bangkok. | |
| Born | December 17, 1989 |
| Education | B. Tech. - Computer Engineering, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat |
| Known for | Indian national swimming team |
| Style | Freestyle, butterfly |
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) |
Anshul Ketan Kothari (born December 17, 1989) is an Indian competitive swimmer who has represented India in Commonwealth Games 2010, Asian Games 2010, and Asian Games 2014.
Early life
At the age of four, Kothari was diagnosed with chronic flat foot condition. The doctors advised his parents for surgery but his parents took a non-conventional route and put him into sports and physical activities. Kothari started out with Gymnastics for 2 years followed by karate. After 5 years of vigorous training he was awarded Junior Black Belt by ALL India Goju-Kai Karate (I.K.G.A). In 1999, Kothari went for a summer camp of swimming and soon developed love towards water and thus his journey in swimming began.
Swimming career
Kothari is one of the accomplished swimmers in India having represented India at Commonwealth Games 2010, Asian Games 2010 and Asian Games 2014.
He has taken part in 23rd National Championships where he represents his home state Gujarat.
In 2010, he became the first swimmer from Gujarat to have represented at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.
19th Commonwealth Games 2010
Kothari represented India at the Commonwealth Games held at New Delhi. He swam in 50,100 m freestyle and also 4 × 100 m freestyle events. He swam the third leg in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay which made history by qualifying for the finals for the first time in the history. The Indian 4 × 100 m freestyle relay quartet stood 6th in the finals.[1]
16th Asian Games 2010
Kothari represented India at the Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China. He swam in the 50 m butterfly and 4 × 100 m freestyle relay events.
17th Asian Games 2014
Kothari represented India at the Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China. He swam in 50 m freestyle, 50 m butterfly and also the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay events. He finished at 14th position in 50 m Butterfly and 20th position in 50 m Freestyle. In the 4x100 freestyle relay, Kothari swam the lead off leg and the team finished at 6th position in the finals creating a new national record.[2]
Asian Age Group Championships
Kothari was part of the gold medal winning teams in 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay at Asian Age group Championships in both 2011 and 2015 editions.[3]
34th National Games 2011
At the 34th National Games 2011 held at Ranchi, Jharkhand. He was the only swimmer from Gujarat to win medals. His tally of individual medals (2 medals) was the highest among any sport in overall medal tally (6 medals) for Gujarat.[4]
35th National Games 2015
He won 3 medals at the national games held at Trivandrum Kerala which helped Gujarat to stand at 9th position in overall medal tally among 29 states.
National championships
Kothari has been a consistent swimmer for his state Gujarat at the nationals and in the year 2011, he ended a two decade gold drought for his state Gujarat by finishing at 1st position in the 50 m freestyle event.[5]
12th South Asian Games
Asnhul won a gold medal in 4 × 100 m medley relay, silver medal in 50 m freestyle, and silver medal in 4 × 100 m freestyle relay.
Open water Competitions
During the early stages of his career Kothari swam few open water competitions. In the year 2005, he swam at the 62nd World’s longest swimming competition (82 km) and finished at 2nd position by completing the race in 10 hours 28mins.
70th Glenmark Senior National Aquatics Championships 2016
Kothari, along with the Gujarat swimming team won the gold medal and set a national record in 4 x 50m Mixed Medley Relay event with the timing of 01:53.42.[6]
Kothari also won a gold medal in 50m Butterfly with the timing of 00:24.93, silver medal in 100m Freestyle with the timing of 00:51.94, silver medal in 50m Freestyle with the timing of 00:23.31, and bronze medal in 4x50m mixed freestyle relay event.[7]
Personal life
Kothari completed his graduation in Computer Engineering (B.Tech) from Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat (NIT-Surat) in 2012. During his years here, Kothari continued his sport simultaneously although he shifted focus to sprint events where he achieved relatively more success.
Awards
- In 2014, Kothari was awarded Junior Eklavya award by the Government of Gujarat for his outstanding achievement in swimming in the years 2011-12.
- In 2006, Kothari was awarded Sardar Patel award by the Government of Gujarat for his outstanding achievement in swimming for the years 2003-04.
References
- ↑ "Indian men's swimming quartet makes history". The Hindu. 2010-10-04. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
- ↑ "India's Anshul Kothari prepares to compete in the heats for the men's 50 m butterfly swimming event during the 17th Asian Games at the Munhak Park Tae-hwan Aquatics Centre in Incheon on September 25... Pictures | Getty Images". Retrieved 2016-08-18.
- ↑ "Exemplary Indian swimming team win gold medal at Asian Age Group Championship". 2015-10-02. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
- ↑ "NATIONAL GAMES Anshul bags silver".
- ↑ "Swimming: Anshul helps Gujarat end gold drought | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". 2011-11-20. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
- ↑ Swimindia. "Records and Relay Results at the 70th Glenmark Senior National Aquatic Championships - 2016, Ranchi". SwimIndia - Swim Meets, Events, Results, Performance Analysis, Diet Tips. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
- ↑ Swimindia. "SwimIndia - Swimmers Profile". SwimIndia - Swim Meets, Events, Results, Performance Analysis, Diet Tips. Retrieved 2016-09-30.