Mohammad Shams Aalam Shaikh (born 17 July 1986) is an Indian Para swimmer. He is currently ranked number 1 by the World Para Swimming (WPS) in men's 100 m butterfly (S5 category) and men's 50 m breastroke (SB4 category) as on 2 February 2024.

Early life and education

Mohammad Shams Aalam Shaikh was born in Rathaus Village,

Madhubani District Madhubani district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar, India, and is a part of Darbhanga division. Its administrative headquarters are located in Madhubani. The district has an area of and has a population of 4,487,379 (as of 2011 ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

, and later moved to

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

with his family. At the age of 24, he developed a benign tumour in his lower back which immobilized his lower half due to unsuccessful surgeries. He lives in Dharavi, Mumbai and holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from

Rizvi College of Engineering Rizvi College of Engineering is a private engineering college, located in the Bandra (west) suburb of Mumbai, in Maharashtra state of India. It was established in 1998, and is managed by the Rizvi Education Society. It is a Muslim religious ...

and MBA from

Sathyabama University Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology (SIST), formerly Sathyabama University, is a deemed to be university, situated at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded in 1987 as Sathyabama Engineering College by the late Jeppiaar and re ...

, Chennai

Swim career

Aalam won four gold medals at the Indian Open Para Swimming Championship in 2018, and a bronze medal at the 2016 Can-Am Para Swimming Championships held in

Gatineau, Quebec Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region and is part of Canada's N ...

. He also represented India at the World Para Swimming Championship Maderia Portugal 2022 &

2018 Asian Para Games The 2018 Asian Para Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Difabel Asia 2018, ''Asian Para Games 2018''), officially known as the 3rd Asian Para Games and also known as Indonesia 2018, was a pan-Asian multi-sport event that held from 6 to 13 October 2018 ...

in Jakarta, Indonesia. He is also received Best Sportsperson with Disability Award by the president of India on 3 December 2021

Athletic career

Aalam was interested in karate and participated in state and national karate events before 2010. After his surgery, he started to train as a swimmer. He won a total of 15 medals at the 12th to 17th Indian National Para Swimming Championship, and was selected for the Indian contingent for the 2018 Asian Para Games to participate at the S5 category for 50M and 100M Butterfly and Freestyle and various other categories. Aalam won Bronze at the 2016 Can-Am Para Swimming Championships held in Gatineau, Quebec in the men's 100m Breaststroke SB4 category. In the 20th National Para-Swimming Championship, Shams won gold medals in 50m butterfly and 150m medley categories along with one silver in 100m freestyle.

Awards

Aalam Shaikh was awarded best emerging leader in disability sports and sports diplomacy by the U.S. Department of state global sports mentoring program 2018. His interview with Kiran Rai for the 300 most influential people in Asia 2020 was published by The New York Press News Agency. He was awarded the role model state award for the empowerment of Persons with Disabilities by the Social Welfare Department, Government of Bihar on the occasion of International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2020. He also got the best international athlete of the year 2020 by Bihar Para Sports Association.

Records

On 8 April 2017, he swam 8 km in 4 hours at

Candolim Beach Candolim is a census town in North Goa and is located in the Bardez taluka in the state of Goa, India. It is situated just south of Calangute Beach and North of Sinquerim. History During the late 16th century, Candolim became the first villa ...

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

. This was the world record for longest open sea swimming by a paraplegic person.

References