Indians @ the Commonwealth Youth Games – Virdhawal rules the pool

The swimming pool turned out to be the most happening place at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune, which played host to the Commonwealth Youth Games from 12-18 October 2008, thanks to the exploits of Virdhawal Khade who captured the imagination of everyone present. No one wanted to miss the chance to watch history in the making where Australian and British swimmers were left in the wake of an Indian swimmer. With each gold Virdhawal won the voices singing the National Anthem during the victory ceremony kept getting louder making every Indian proud.

At the Commonwealth Youth Games the participants have to be 18yrs and under to participate. Virdhawal, who turned 17 in the end of August, had a tough schedule as he had to swim eight events (5 Individual and 3 Relays) over a span of just 3 days. He went on to finish the meet becoming the most decorated athlete of the Games winning three gold medals, w/ new meet records, and two silver medals out of his five individual events. In the two events where Virdhawal won silver he got touched out by Australian swimmers a year older to him. He also helped the Indian 4*100m Freestyle relay team win a silver medal. Four new national records were rewritten at the Games. His results were as follows:

50m Freestyle – 22.68sec Gold (New meet and National record)

100m Freestyle – 49.47sec Gold (New meet and National record)

200m Freestyle – 1min 49.86sec Silver (New National record)

50m Butterfly – 24.25sec Gold (New meet and National record)

100m Butterfly – 54.01sec Silver (Personal best)

Check the following to get a sense of the quality of swims:

• In the 100m Freestyle, Virdhawal swam over half a second faster than the World Youth Swimming Championship Record, which was set in Mexico in July this year, and would feature second to only Ian Thorpe in the 18yrs and under category in the Australian All-time ranking.
• Virdhawal's timings are quicker than Eamon Sullivan's timings when Eamon was 18yrs old. Sullivan (now 23yrs old) is from Australia and is the current world record holder in the 50m and 100m Freestyle.
• First Indian to break into the top 150 FINA World Rankings in 2008. Achieved it in three events this year. Ranked No. 57 in the 50m Butterfly, No. 79 in the 100m Freestyle and No. 105 in the 50m Freestyle per the FINA World Swimming Rankings 2008 (last updated on 15-Oct-08). In the 50m Butterfly and 100m Freestyle Virdhawal is the youngest in the top 100.
• Amongst the fastest in Asia. His times in the 50m and 100m Freestyle would have fetched him silver medals at the Doha 2006 Asian Games.
  
• First person from the Indian sub-continent to swim under 50sec in the 100m Freestyle and 1min 50sec in the 200m Freestyle.
  

For those who missed all the action, here is a glimpse.

Virdhawal winning gold in the 50m Freestyle Finals

Virdhawal winning gold in the 100m Freestyle Finals

The only other Indian swimmer to win a medal was 16-year-old Aaron D’souza. Despite racing with boys a couple of years older to him he went on to win a bronze medal in the 200m Butterfly. Aaron came close to winning a medal on three other occasions; he finished 4^th in the 100m Freestyle and 5^th in the 100m Butterfly and 200m Freestyle. Aaron’s biggest improvements came in the freestyle events. His results are as follows:

50m Butterfly – 25.93sec

100m Butterfly – 56.60sec 5^th

200m Butterfly – 2min 03.43sec Bronze

100m Freestyle – 51.52sec 4^th

200m Freestyle – 1min 53.22sec 5^th

18-year-old J. Agnishwar made it to the finals in all the events he swam. He finished 4^th in the 200m IM, 6^th in the 50 and 200m Breaststroke and 8^th in the 100m Breaststroke. He swam personal bests in all his events.

In comparison, the performance from the girls was disappointing and the only ones to make the finals were: Pooja Alva (6^th and 8^th in the 100 and 200m Butterfly respectively), Fariha Zaman (7^th in the 50m Backstroke) and Arahata Magavi (8^th in the 50m Butterfly).

The Indian team consisted of:

Boys: Virdhawal Khade, Aaron D’Souza, N.A. Sandeep, Nishit Shah, Praveen Tokas, Ashwin Menon, J.P. Agnishwar, Jashan Deep Singh, Aditya Sangvekar and A.P. Gagan.

Girls: Fariah Zaman, Arhatha Magavi, Pooja R. Alva, Talasha Prabhu, Kshipra Mahajan, Heta Dave, M.M. Venbha, Aarti Ghorpade, Lekha Kamath, Poorva Shetty and Krunal Bhosale.

Click here to get the entire results.

Virdhawal Khade breaks the 50m Butterfly National record @ Junior Nationals

Olympian Virdhawal Khade continued his record breaking spree. He broke the National record in the 50m Butterfly at the Junior National Aquatic championships held at Amritsar from 31 August - 4 September. He clocked a time of 24.78sec to better the previous National record of 24.91sec which he had set at the Malaysia Open in May this year.

Virdhawal who swam the Junior Nationals as a train-through meet showed his class as he beat his competition by huge margins. He won all his events with new Junior National records and finished with the Best Male swimmer title.

Click here to get all the Junior National Swimming results (courtesy PDAAA - Pune District Amateur Aquatic Association).

Sandeep Sejwal too breaks into the World top 100

Olympian Sandeep Sejwal's amazing swims at the Beijing Olympic Games helped him become the first Indian swimmer to break into the top 100 in the world this year in two events - 100 and 200m Breaststroke.

Sandeep was ranked 92 and 96 in the 100 and 200m Breaststroke respectively (as of 17-Aug-08) as per FINA's World ranking.

In July this year Virdhawal Khade became the first Indian swimmer to break into the top 100 in the world this year in the 50m Freestyle.

Swimming is amongst the biggest sports in terms of participation and just making it into the World ranking list, i.e. top 150, is highly creditable considering the number of swimmers that compete around the world. Indian swimmers are steadily climbing up the ranks and making their presence felt in World swimming.

Go India Go!!

Day 6 of swimming @ the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

Day 6 of swimming action at the Water Cube saw two Indians competing. Virdhawal Khade in the 50m Freestyle and Ankur Poseria in the 100m Butterfly.

Kolhapur boy Virdhawal Khade was the first to take the plunge and clocked a time of 22.73sec in the 50m Freestyle to finish 7^th in his heat and 40 out of 97 overall. His time was 0.04sec off his best time of 22.69sec (National Record), which he clocked at last month's World Youth Swimming Championship semi-final. He was the fastest amongst those his age and younger and ranked third among the Asians.

Virdhawal, at the age of just 16, is well below the average age of a world class sprinter. The youngest and oldest to qualify for the semi-finals were 21 and 31yrs respectively. Based on the timings he is clocking today, in four years time Virdhawal will definitely be a force to reckon with. Virdhawal's next big meet is the Commonwealth Youth Games at Pune in October.

US based Indian swimmer, Ankur Poseria, was the next and last among the Indians to take the plunge. He clocked a time of 54.74sec in the 100m Butterfly and finished 57 out of 65 overall. His time was well below his best time of 53.68sec (National Record) which he clocked last December to qualify for the Olympic Games. Ankur has only recently started representing India in the big events and it will take him some time before he gets comfortable racing at this level.

With this the Indian participation at the Water Cube drew to a close. Among the four Indian swimmers Sandeep Sejwal and Virdhawal Khade stood out recording two and one best time respectively. Overall it has been a good experience for the Indian swimmers and I'm confident we shall see many of these faces back in the pool four years from now fighting it out for medals.

Day 4 of swimming @ the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

Virdhawal Khade, Nihar Ameen (coach) and Sandeep Sejwal

The Water Cube witnessed new Indian National records being made by Virdhawal Khade, in the 100m Freestyle, and Sandeep Sejwal, in the 200m Breaststroke, on Day 4 of swimming at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

16-year-old teen sensation Virdhawal Khade was the first among the two to take the plunge. He swam an amazing 100m Freestyle clocking a time of 50.07sec which is faster than his previous best time, which was also the National record, of 50.49sec which he clocked at the World Youth Swimming Championships last month. He won his heat and finished 42/64 overall. The quality of the swim can be judged by the fact that:
• He would have won the gold medal at last month's World Youth Swimming Championships
• This time would also have got him a bronze medal at the 2006 Doha Asian Games.
• He finished as the third fastest Asian and the fastest among those his age or younger.

19-year-old Sandeep Sejwal was the next to race. Brimming with confidence after a good show in the 100m Breaststroke on the first day, where he improved by 1.39sec, he went on to cut almost three seconds in the 200m Breaststroke to stop the clock at 2:15.24sec. His previous best time, which was also the National record, was 2:18.23sec which he clocked at the Malaysia Open in May this year to qualify for the Olympic Games. He finished second in his heat and 36/52 overall. He ranked 5th fastest among the Asians.

Day 3 of swimming @ the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

It was Rehan Poncha's turn to take the plunge. Rehan swam well in the 200m Butterfly heats clocking a time of 2:01.89sec. He finished second in his heat and 40/44 overall. His time ranked him 8^th among the Asians.

One must keep in mind that he had little time to fine tune for the Games as he qualified only a month back.

Day 2 of swimming @ the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

Day two saw the 16-year-old Indian swimming sensation, Virdhawal Khade, swim his first event - 200m Freestyle heats. He finished seventh in his heat and 48/57 overall with a decent time of 1:51.86sec. Among swimmers his age and younger Virdhawal ranked no. 2 and among the Asian swimmers he ranked no. 7. Virdhawal is still very raw and has a long way to go. The experience he gains from each swim will only make him stronger for the future.

Virdhawal came to the Olympic Games after peaking at last month's World Youth Swimming Championships held in Monterrey, Mexico and hence is going to find it tough to match his best timings that he clocked last month.