Sharath M. Gayakwad is an Indian

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

swimmer from

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. At the

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games (), officially known as the 17th Asian Games () and also known as Incheon 2014 (), were a pan-Asian multi-sport event held from 19 September to 4 October 2014 in Incheon, South Korea. On 17 April 2007, Incheon was awarded ...

, he broke P.T. Usha's record for most number of medals by an Indian at any multi-discipline Event by winning 6 medals. Coming from a modest financial background, he has over 30 international and 40 national medals to his credit, one of them being the bronze medal at the

2010 Asian Para Games The 2010 Asian Para Games (), also known as the First Asian Para Games, was a parallel sports event for Asian athletes with a disability held in Guangzhou, China. Two weeks after the conclusion of the 16th Asian Games, it opened on December 12 a ...

. He is the first Indian swimmer to qualify for the

Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

and competed in the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

in London.

Early years

Sharath was born in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 1991 with a deformed left hand. He attended the Little Flower Public School in Bangalore, where his parents were initially apprehensive of sending him to mandatory swimming classes because of his disability. However, he eventually took up swimming classes at the age of 9 along with the rest of the class. Soon after that, he was to be seen participating in various swimming events for disabled people. In 2003, trainer John Christopher spotted him swimming at a school event, and ended up training Sharath for 7 years. Christopher explains that Sharath was the first paralympic swimmer he had coached, and that Sharath had to work a lot on maintaining equilibrium, because of his deformity. He attended Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College for high school studies, where he was given a fee concession and given encouragement for training.

Swimming career

2008

Sharath Gayakwad has represented India at various national and international swimming events. He won four Gold, two Silver and two Bronze at the

IWAS World Games The World Abilitysport Games (known as the IWAS World Games before 2023) are a parasports multi-sport event for athletes who use wheelchairs or are amputees. Organized by World Abilitysport (formerly IWAS), the Games are a successor to the origina ...

, 2008.

2010

He won a Bronze medal clocking 1:20.90 in the 100m breaststroke at the 2010

Asian Para Games The Asian Para Games, also known as Para Asiad, is a multi-sport event regulated by the Asian Paralympic Committee that's held every four years after every Asian Games for athletes with physical disabilities. Both events had adopted the strat ...

, Guangzhou, China. The performance also enabled Sharath to qualify for the Paralympics scheduled to be held in London in 2012. He was ranked No. 13 in the world in his category in 100m Breaststroke event in this year.

2012

He is the first Indian swimmer to achieve the qualifying time for London Paralympics, 2012. He has also won 1 Silver and 2 Bronze medals at the 2011 International Deutsche Meisterschaften (IDM) Swimming Championships in Berlin, Germany. Sharath is also the Asian record-holder in his category in two events – 50m Butterfly, 50m Breaststroke. In 2012,

GoSports Foundation The GoSports Foundation (GSF) is an independent, donor-funded non-profit venture working towards securing funds and professional expertise for some of India's junior Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Established in 2008, it has worked with numer ...

sent Sharath to a high-performance training camp ahead of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. The camp was held in Perth, Australia, at the University of Western Australia,. The Chief Coach Mel Tandtrum is a gold licensed swimming coach. Benefiting from the high-performance training, Sharath clocked personal best timings in all four events at London 2012.

2014

Struggling with shoulder injury leading up to the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

Incheon Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...

, Sharath ended up winning 6 medals. This was the highest tally of medals by an Indian at the Asian Games. This record was previously held by

PT Usha Pilavullakandi Thekkeparambil Usha (born 27 June 1964) is an Indian sports administrator, parliamentarian and retired track and field athlete. She was born in Koothali near Perambra in Kozhikode district, Kerala, and grew up in Payyoli. Usha ha ...

who won 5 medals at the 1986 Seoul Asian Gamesbr>
Sharath Gayakwad won silver in 200m Individual Medley (SM8), bronze in Men's 100m Butterfly (S8), bronze in Men's 100m Breaststroke (SB8), bronze in Men's 100 Backstroke (S8) and a bronze in 50m Freestyle (S8). His 6th medal was a bronze in the Men's 4x100 Medley Relay. Zee Swim Students

Coaching career

After Sharath's retirement from competitive swimming in 2014, he coached many state and national level swimmers from numerous swimming clubs in India. Currently, he is the program director of Zee Swim Academy, a swimming club in Bangalore.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gayakwad, Sharath Living people Paralympic swimmers for India Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics 1991 births Swimmers from Bengaluru Recipients of the Arjuna Award S8-classified para swimmers 21st-century Indian people