Shikha Tandon (born 1985) is a champion swimmer from Bangalore, India.[1] Tandon has won 146 national medals, and 36 medals in international competitions, including five gold medals.[1]
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When she was 12 years old, Tandon was spotted at a state meeting, and was selected to compete in two national events, and won a bronze medal. Tandon went on to compete in the Asian Games at the age of 13, and her first World Championship at 16.[1]
At the 2001 28th junior National aquatic championship, Tandon won the 200 m individual medley, setting a new record.[2]
In 2002, Tandon finished 8th in the 100 m freestyle event at the 100m freestyle at the Asian Games in Busan.[3]
At the 57th Senior National Aquatic Championship in 2003, Tanden broke the Indian women's 50 freestyle record, with a time of 26.61 s.[4] She won five individual gold medals in the competition, and was declared best swimmer for the third consecutive year.[3]
At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Tandon competed in both the 50 m and the 100 m freestyle, the first Indian swimmer to qualify for two separate events in an Olympic competition.[1]
In 2005, Shikha held seven national records,[5] and was the first Indian woman to hold so many simultaneously.[1] In 2005, she was honoured with an Arjuna Award.
At the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, Tandon reached the semi-finals of both 50 m backstroke and 50 m freestyle.[6] In the same year, she became the first female Indian to win an international medal for a short-course event, taking bronze at the indoor Asian age-group swimming Championships in Bangkok.[3]
In 2007 Tandon had surgery on her shoulder, and missed many of the season's events.[7]
Tandon has a younger brother called Shobhit, who suffered from asthma. Under advice from doctors, their mother took him swimming to improve his lung capacity, and Tandon joined them.[1]
Her role models include Jenny Thompson and Inge de Bruijn.[8]
Tandon attended Jain College,[2] and then studied biotechnology at Bangalore University.[1]