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.

Day 1 of swimming @ the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

The much awaited action has begun at the Water Cube, the state-of-the-art aquatic venue. For the first time ever the heats are being held in the evening and the semi-finals and finals are being held in the morning so that it fits in the prime-time slot for the US audience (hail NBC). USA has for long dominated the swimming events and with Michael Phelps leading the charge again it will be interesting to see if things would be different.

Sandeep Sejwal was the first Indian swimmer to take the plunge. Sandeep swam an amazing 100m Breaststroke in the heats breaking two National records in that one swim. He swam the first 50m in 29.08sec, which is faster than the previous National record of 29.28sec, and then went on to stop the clock at 1:02.19sec, which is faster than the previous National record of 1:03.58sec. Both the the earlier records were also in Sandeep's name. Sandeep finished second in his heat and 38/63 overall. Sandeep's time ranks him 5th among the Asians.

It was quite sad to see that the majority of the India media focused on the fact that he did not qualify for the semi-finals, which from the very start was out of reach, and completely ignored the fact that he swam very well improving by 1.39sec.

The six weeks spent at the Pine Crest School in Ft. Lauderdale, USA prior to the Beijing Olympic Games seems to have made a difference. All eyes will now be on the 200m Breaststroke which is on 12^th August.

Introducing the Indian Swim Team @ the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

* Virdhawal Khade:

This 16-year-old hails from Kolhapur, Maharashtra. He is going to be one of the youngest participants at the Beijing Olympic Games. He was the first and the youngest-ever Indian swimmer to qualify for the Beijing Olympic Games. He has gone faster than the Olympic Qualifying time in three events - 50, 100 and 200m Freestyle - becoming the first Indian to do so. He currently holds the National record in five events - 50, 100, 200 and 400m Freestyle and 50m Butterfly. His time in the 50m Freestyle is currently tied-fastest time in Asia this year. His highest world rank this year is 85 in the 50m Freestyle.

In India, he trains at the K.C. Reddy Swim Center, Bangalore under Coach Nihar Ameen.

Virdhawal is being funded by the Mittal Champions Trust and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports through their National Sports Development Fund. He is also the first Brand Ambassador for SPEEDO in India.

Events: 50m Freestyle (14-Aug-08 between 4-4.28pm IST)
100m Freestyle (12-Aug-08 between 4-4.40pm IST)
200m Freestyle (10-Aug-08 between 4.24-5.08pm IST)

Go Veer Go!!

* Sandeep Sejwal:

This 19-year-old hails from New Delhi. He is pursuing a Bachelors Degree in Arts from St. Stephen's College, Delhi. He is the first Indian Breaststroke swimmer to qualify for an Olympic Games. He is the National Champion and National Record holder in the 50, 100 and 200m Breaststroke. In 2008, he reached the highest world rank of 144 in the 50m and 200m Breaststroke.

In India, he trains at the K.C. Reddy Swim Center, Bangalore under Coach Nihar Ameen.

Sandeep is funded by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports through their National Sports Development Fund.

Events: 100m Breaststroke (9-Aug-08 between 6.15-6.38pm IST)
200m Breaststroke (12-Aug-08 between 5.14-5.41pm IST)

Go Sandeep Go!!

* Ankur Poseria:

21-year-old Ankur Poseria trains and studies at the University of Southern California, USA where he is pursuing a Bachelors Degree in International Relations. Ankur currently holds the National Record in the 100m Butterfly. In 2008, he reached the highest world rank of 107 in the 50m Freestyle.

He trains under Coach Dave Salo, a highly reputed US coach.

Event(s): 100m Butterfly (14-Aug-08 between 5.10-5.44pm IST)

Go Ankur Go!!

* Rehan Poncha:

This 22-year-old is the oldest amongst the four and was the last to hop on the flight to Beijing. He has been based in Bangalore for over a decade and is pursuing his Degree (BA in Psychology and Journalism) at Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College, Bangalore. He is the National Record holder in the 200 and 400m IM, 200m Backstroke and 200m Butterfly.

In India, he trains at the Basavangudi Aquatic Center, Bangalore under Coach Pradeep Kumar.

Event(s): 200m Butterfly (11-Aug-08 between 4.38-5.01pm IST)

Go Rehan Go!!