Asian Games bronze medallist says Indian swimming needs financial support.
Performance in the Commonwealth Games (CWG) had pushed Virdhawal Khade to win a bronze in the Asian Games, revealed the swimmer to DNA on Saturday.
Khade, who was felicitated by the Maharashtra Olympic Association and Maharashtra Government Sports Department here at Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, said, “I was under a lot of pressure after not winning even a single medal in the CWG. But I took the pressure positively and motivated myself to win one in the Games. I am happy I did that.”
Though he gave India a medal in the Asiad after 24 years, the present performance of Indian swimmers has been a forgettable one. The swimmer agrees that it is the non-popularity of the sport that is affecting it. “We don’t have too many youngsters taking up the sport. This makes it difficult to find new talent. Moreover, if we compare Indian swimming with countries like China or Japan, we can see that millions are spent on swimming in those countries. If money is spent in swimming, we can also do better than this,” he said.
“I also feel that we should have more national-level championships, so that we can improve our performance. As of now, we have only one championship and that is senior nationals. We should have more of such competitions,” he added.
Khade also feels that when it comes to taking a start, swimmers abroad are a step ahead. “I have the best start in the country and it was so before I went to the Asian Games, but when I went there, I found that mine was the slowest start in the finals. I will work on it and let’s hope it gets better,” he said.
Khade said the number of medals could have gone up had he not made some mistakes. “I made a few mistakes in the 50m freestyle event, which I could have avoided. I will try not to repeat them,” he said.
The swimmer is now targeting the 2012 Olympics. “I am working for the London Games and a medal there is my target,” he said.
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