Virdhawal targets CWG glory

Swimming: Three swimmers leave to Europe today for training

The tall 17-year-old swimmer from Kolhapur, who became the youngest swimmer to represent the country at the Olympics during the Beijing Games, will travel to Europe in the wee hours of Friday for a 75-day training-cum-competition programme aimed at enhancing his prospects at the next year’s Delhi CWG Games.

“I took a couple of months’ break but have started training now. It’s always good to train abroad as they provide latest technologies. This is a good opportunity to improve my timings so that I can win medals at the CWG. I will put in all my effort to come up with medals in Delhi,” Virdhawal told reporters at the KC Reddy Swim Centre here on Thursday.

Virdhawal will be accompanied by another Olympian and State-mate Sandeep Sejwal, Tamil Nadu’s J Agnishwar and Karnataka swimming coach Nihar Ameen.  Virdhawal -- who will compete in the 50, 100, 200 freestyle and 50 and 100 butterfly segments at the World Championship from July 26 to August 2 in Rome -- said a good performance in the meet will boost his confidence to perform better in future.

“My goal is not winning medals in Rome. I am focusing on bettering my time there. If I can clock 48 seconds (100 free) and 21 (50 free) then that will boost my confidence. It will surely help me to do better in future meets,” pointed out Virdhawal who holds the national record in the 50, 100, 200 and 400M freestyle and 50 butterfly events. The two other swimmers echoed similar views about training abroad and wearing hi-tech swim suits while adding that there was no substitute to hard work. “Hi-tech suits give you the extra edge but ultimately it’s the hardwork that brings success to any athlete,” said the trio who will be wearing Speedo swim suits (subject to an approval from FINA) in the upcoming meets.

Nihar said that the most important aspect of training was the bio-mechanical test to be conducted in Paris. “Usually only world class swimmers get chance undergo bio-mechanical tests, a facility not available in India.
“That is the most important part of training. Our first stop will be Spain and then we move to France and back to Germany before going to Rome for the World Championship. In between we also take part in competitions in all these countries,” Nihar elaborated.