Despite hiccups, swimmers are upbeat

The year 2009 was a significant one for the Indian swimming team and it seemed as though they were headed in the right direction ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

With path breaking performances in most of the international meets which fetched the team over 35 medals, the swimmers basked in glory after their dream run in meets like Asian Swimming Championships, Asian Age Group, Asian Indoor Games and Asian Youth Games.

However, the lead-up to the CWG has not been as ideal as one would have expected. With just three swimmers—Rohit Hawaldar, Gagan AP and Sandeep Sejwal— making the qualifying mark in their events, none of the swimmers in the squad have come close to the stipulated time, which is the eight place time of the previous CWG in Melbourne.

Forget about making the qualifying time, the swimmers failed to better their own marks compared to last year where they established 25 best Indian performances.

Star swimmers Virdhawal Khade and Rehan Poncha failed miserably at the Senior National Aquatic Championship held in August, which was also a trial for the CWG in Delhi.  The swimming team was also hit with a few dampeners such as the suspension  of two swimmers —Richa Mishra and Jyotsna Pansare's— for failing dope tests. Shikha Tandon pulled out in the last minute and MB Balakrishnan was injured in a fracas with goons.

However, national coach Pradeep S Kumar is certain that his swimmers will put up a grand show at the SP Mukherjee Aquatic Complex, the venue for CWG swimming events.

“The team certainly looks better than what we were during the Senior National and the Test event in Delhi last month. It’s a totally different atmosphere, the competition will be much greater than the earlier meets and the infrastructure is better too, so we hope to put up a good show,” says Kumar.

Poncha, who joined the Indian squad on Monday after a training stint in Los Angeles, will look at leaving his Senior National performance behind and live up to the expectations while Khade would like to find his record-breaking rhythm.

The one swimmer to watch out for during this meet will be Delhi lad Sandeep Sejwal, who has had a tremendous run-up to the Games. He has managed to drastically cut down timing in 50, 100 and 200 meters breaststroke events.

Khazan Singh’s silver medal feat in the 1986 Seoul Asian Games still remains to be the greatest achievement by an Indian swimmer and only a medal at the Delhi Games can bring a refreshing change.