The Kerala floods have been a devasting period of loss, fear and morale breakdown. Sajan Prakash, a 24 year old swimmer from Idukki managed to place a national record in the Asian Games 200m butterfly all the while being worried about his missing kin in the floods.

The last trime any Indian reached the finals of the butterfly even in Asian Games was in 1986 by Kazan Singh. This time Sajan clocked 1 minute 57.75 seconds. “He was calling me all day. He is very upset, and wasn’t able to focus on the race. If not for this, he would have won a medal,” his mother said.

His maternal grandfather, uncle and three other relatives have been missing in the Kerala floods. All he knows is that they might be taken to some relief camp safely. It’s our sincere prayer that his family gets reunited and he take on the next event with much more verve and confidence.