Sebastian Xavier (born 10 February 1970) is a former

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n swimmer from

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

Career

He was the fastest swimmer of India for more than a decade. He held the national record of 22.89 seconds in 50 meters

freestyle swimming Freestyle is a category of swimming competition, defined by the rules of the International Swimming Federation (FINA), in which competitors are subject to a few limited restrictions on their swimming stroke. Freestyle races are the most commo ...

for 11 years from 1998 to 2009 in addition to several other national records during his career. He represented India in the 1996 Olympic Games at

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

,Sebastian Xavier Biography and Statistics - Olympics at Sports-Reference.com
/ref> in two

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

and in several

South Asian Games The South Asian Games (SAG or SA Games), formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games (SAFG or SAF Games), is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic C ...

(SAF) games. Sebastian won 36 gold medals at the SAF Games, SAF Championships and Asia Pacific meets and 66 gold medals in the national meets. He received the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

in 2001.

Personal life

Sebastian is married to former Indian athlete

Molly Chacko Molly Chacko (born 15 May 1969) is an Indian middle distance runner from Kerala. She holds the current 3000 metres National record of 9:06.42 set on 10 October 1994 during the Hiroshima Asian Games. Molly is also a former National record holder ...

and the couple works with Southern Railways.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Xavier, Sebastian Indian male swimmers Indian male freestyle swimmers Malayali people Swimmers from Kerala Recipients of the Arjuna Award Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers of India 1970 births Living people People from Alappuzha district Swimmers at the 1998 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for India South Asian Games gold medalists for India South Asian Games medalists in swimming 20th-century Indian people 21st-century Indian people