Srihari Nataraj's strokes rewrite records

For someone who did not like backstroke when he took to swimming, Srihari Nataraj is now the king of this stroke in India.

At the 73rd Senior National Aquatic Championships in Bhopal that ended last week, the 18-year-old from Bengaluru won four individual gold medals including three in backstroke, while rewriting meet records in all three races – 50m, 100m and 200m. He also helped Karnataka to four relay golds – 4x100m medley, 4x100m freestyle, 4x50m medley and 4x200m freestyle – starting the medley relays and anchoring the freestyle relays. Besides, he was part of the Karnataka bronze medal-winning 4x50m freestyle relay team while also helping himself to 200m medley silver.

Nataraj made the Bhopal Senior Nationals his very own to be declared the best swimmer among men.

Nataraj is undoubtedly India's champion backstroker at the moment. And that's not just going by his Bhopal performance but also in the Junior World Championships in Budapest in mid-August. He has only been bettering his own marks, holding the national records in all the three backstroke events.

The last month-and-a-half has been quite eventful for Nataraj.

First was his maiden participation in the Senior World Championships in Gwangju, Korea, where neither he nor any of the other Indians went beyond the heats.

Then came the Junior Worlds in Hungary, where he broke his own national records including bettering his timings three times in two days in 50m – clocking 25.63s in heats only to improve upon it in the semifinals with 25.52s and then go two-hundredths of a second faster to clock 25.50s in the next day's final and finish sixth, missing the bronze medal by 0.15s.

In the 100m backstroke, he finished seventh with a national record of 54.69s in the semifinals before timing 54.85s in the final, meeting the Olympic Qualifying Time – the 'B' mark.

And in the 200m backstroke, he clocked 2min 01.70s, finishing 14th among 62 who completed the heats.

Reflecting upon his two Worlds appearances – both his first – Nataraj told DNA: "The senior and junior World Championships were good experiences. In Gwangju, I was happy with how it went. I tried my best. I felt I could have gone faster but did not get the timings I expected.

"In Budapest, my target was a medal. Even though I got Olympic 'B' qualification timing and entered the final, I was not satisfied. I knew I can be a lot faster," he added.

For Nataraj, it is about improving on certain finer aspects rather than the swim as a whole. "In the junior Worlds, the races were very close. My start was good in 100m. The turn was good too. It is just that they were slightly ahead in each stage of the race that added to the points.

"In 50m final, I started to catch up after having the worst start compared to the rest of them. If I had a better start, I could have maintained. I did catch them up with swim. When it comes to swim, I am on par with them. I need to work on tiny details," he said.

The 187cm-tall swimmer is not overawed by the national records that he sets almost every time he enters the pool. He said: "To get national records is always a nice feeling. But right now, the main goal is the 'A' qualification for Olympics. If national records happen along the way to getting it, it is good. It is just another race for me. Getting the 'A' qualification is what I am looking at. I am very confident that I can get it done."

Also confident of Nataraj meeting the 'A' qualifying time are his swim coach Jayaraj and strength and conditioning coach Decklin, who expect him to meet it by the year end.

Senior swimmer Veerdhawal Khade and coach Nihar Ameen said the Indian swimmers were in awe of the occasion at the Senior Worlds. Nataraj, though, insisted he was not one of them.

"I don't tend to get that kind of a feeling," he said. "Even though I did not make the semifinals in the Senior Worlds, I still consider each and every swimmer as a competitor, even if he is a gold medallist. There's no reason to be awestruck by them. I cannot think they are faster than me. If I get that into my head, it puts me in a mental disadvantage. I start subconsciously to think I can't race faster than them. To swim faster than my best time and also race against the best is what I enter the pool with."

Nataraj has overcome the disappointment of not winning a medal in the two Worlds, at least in the junior meet. The Senior Nationals in Bhopal within a week of the junior Worlds was perhaps the best healing touch.

"I do get over the races once they are done," he said. "I have always realised that there is no point in sulking about the race once done. You learn from it. There is no point in sulking. You know what to work on. There is no point wasting mental energy on what is over."

It is a fact that the Indian swimmers have less races in the country to test themselves. Nataraj seconds the view. "I have dropped times every time I have raced. I am happy with the training. I do need more access to facilities. Also, racing with much faster swimmers and in a lot more meets are some of the few things I would require to get to the next level as I feel I can go a lot faster."

Up next for Nataraj is the Asian Age Group championships in Bengaluru from September 24-27.

Nataraj actually started with butterfly before backstroke happened by chance. "I never liked backstroke. My mom says my first medal was in backstroke in 2010 in sub-junior nationals. I kept training for the butterfly. In fly, I did not make the final and came fifth in backstroke. After that I started training for backstroke, it felt very natural, it feels better than the rest of the stroke," he said.

Nataraj may have come empty-handed from Budapest but he did catch the attention of some of the other coaches. "A lot of coaches have come to me and said I have a really nice technique. I believe technique can beat strength any day in the pool. Backstroke is very draining on the thighs. It is very technical in maintaining balance and being stable," he said.

One who has been swimming for more than 16 years, the BA (1st year) student looks up to American Michael Phelps and seeks motivation from football club Barcelona and Lionel Messi. "Outside sport, I look up to Steve Jobs, how he wanted his products to be perfect. I look up to people who try to be perfect as I have always tried to be perfect myself," he said.

Nataraj is confident of winning a major international medal soon. "I have won medals in Asian age group and South Asian meets. I was looking forward to my first major international medal in Budapest.

"It is just a matter of time before Indian swimming catches up with the rest of the word and very soon a lot of international medals will start coming in," he said.

Once that happens, there will be no looking back for Indian swimming, thanks to Nataraj's backstroke exploits.

N ZONE

• 10 – No. of medals Srihari Nataraj won in the just-concluded Senior Nationals in Bhopal. These include 8 gold medals including relays, 1 silver and 1 bronze
   
• 3 – National records Srihari Nataraj holds in the three backstroke events – 25.50s in 50m, 54.69s in 100m and 2:01.70s in 200m

NATARAJ AT 2019 SENIOR NATIONALS

• 50m backstroke (25.83s) gold
   
• 100m backstroke (55.63s) gold
   
• 200m backstroke (2:02.08s) gold
   
• 100m freestyle (50.59s) gold
   
• 4x100 medley relay gold
   
• 4x100m freestyle relay gold
   
• 4x50m medley relay gold
   
• 4x200m freestyle relay gold
   
• 200m medley silver
   
• 4x50m freestyle relay bronze

DID YOU KNOW?

Srihari Nataraj rewrote the meet records in all the 3 backstroke events in the recent Senior National Championships in Bhopal, though they were below his national record marks set in the World Juniors in Budapest