History of Arjuna Awards in Swimming

On the eve of the Arjuna Awards 2011, where this year Virdhawal Khade and Prasanta Karmakar will step forward to claim the honor from the President of India, its time to remember the ones before who lead the way:

1. 1961 Jam. Bajarangi Prasad

2. 1966 Rima Datta

3. 1967 Arun Shaw

4. 1969 Baidyanath Nath

5. 1971 Bhanwar Singh

6. 1973 D. (Tingoo) Khatau

7. 1974 A.B. Sarang

8. 1974 Manjari Bhargava (diving)

9. 1975 M.S. Rana

10. 1975 Smita Desai

11. 1982 Persis Madan

12. 1983 Anita Sood

13. 1984 Khajan Singh

14. 1988 Wilson Cherian

15. 1990 Bula Choudhury

16. 1996 V. Kutraleeshwaran

17. 1998 Bhanu Sachdeva

18. 1999 Nisha Millet

19. 2000 Sebastian Xavier

20. 2000 J. Abhijith

21. 2005 Shikha Tandon

22. 2010 Rehan Poncha

In terms of government recognition, this is the best year for Indian swimming with 3 national awards coming its way: While Virdhawal Khade and Prasanta Karmakar have been conferred the Arjuna Award, Mr. Sushil Kohli has been conferred the Dhyanchand Award.