C. S. A. Swami
Indian long-distance runner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christopher Sebastian Arul Swami (31 December 1913 – 22 October 1997), better known as C. S. A. Swami, was an Indian journalist and athlete.[1] He competed in the marathon at the 1936 Summer Olympics.[2] Aged 22 in 1936, he was the youngest participant for India at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games.[3]
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Indian |
| Born | 31 December 1913 Ootacamund (Ooty), Madras Presidency, India |
| Died | 22 October 1997 (aged 84) Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Height | 165 cm (5 ft 5 in)[1] |
| Weight | 54 kg (119 lb)[1] |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Long-distance running |
Event | Marathon |
| Club | Indian National Olympic Team |
At the time of the Olympics, Swami had a personal best of 2 hours and 47 seconds in the marathon.[4] During the journey to Berlin, Swami caught paratyphoid in Malta. In Berlin, he was stretchered to the Olympic Village and then stayed in a hospital for three weeks. [5] The 100-pound Swami was described as the "smallest athlete in the games" by Lawson Robertson, the head coach of the American athletics team.[6]
Despite being frail, Swami started the Olympic marathon. Halfway through the race, he became ill. He collapsed at the finish and was carried back to the hospital.[7] Swami had a time of 3:10:44.0 and he was 37th among the 42 runners who completed the course. A further 18 runners, including the defending champion Juan Carlos Zabala, did not complete the race.[8]
Besides being a runner over several distances, Swami was a shooter, football coach and referee. He had a journalistic career in the Free Press Journal,Times of India and Indian Express. He joined Indian Express in 1947 and retired as the Chief Sports Editor in 1984.[7]
