Indians @ the 51st MILO/PRAM Malaysia Invitation Open – Sandeep Sejwal also qualifies for the Beijing Olympic Games

Five of India’s top swimmers – Virdhawal Khade, Sandeep Sejwal, Shikha Tandon, Rohit Havaldar and Rehan Poncha – took part in the 51st MILO/PRAM Malaysia Invitation Open at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 1-4^th May 2008. This event was a FINA recognized Olympic qualifying tournament.

The Indians put up a great performance. Virdhawal Khade and Sandeep Sejwal were the stars as they went on to swim under the Olympic qualifying time in three events – 50, 100 and 200m Freestyle – and two events – 100 and 200m Breaststroke – respectively. Virdhawal is the first ever Indian swimmer to swim under the Olympic qualifying time in more than two events. Virdhawal’s and Sandeep’s performances at this meet have put Indian swimming on the world map as they both are currently ranked in the top 150 in the world. Also, for the first time in our history we have an Indian swimmer who is on the verge of breaking the 50sec barrier in the 100m Freestyle and the 1min 50sec barrier in the 200m Freestyle.

16-year-old Virdhawal Khade, who was the first and youngest Indian swimmer to qualify for the Beijing Olympic Games, won three gold medals with new meet records – 50 and 100m Freestyle and 50m Butterfly – and two silver medals – 200 and 400m Freestyle. He also went on to create four National records – 100, 200 and 400m Freestyle and 50m Butterfly.
His times were:
50m Freestyle – 23.03sec (Gold, Meet Record)
100m Freestyle – 50.66sec (Gold, Meet Record and National Record)
200m Freestyle – 1min 51.65sec (Silver, National Record)
400m Freestyle – 4min 01.87sec (Silver, National Record)
50m Butterfly – 24.91sec (Gold, Meet Record and National Record)

19-year-old Sandeep Sejwal won two gold medals with new meet records – 100 and 200m Breaststroke – and one silver – 50m Breaststroke. He went on create National records in all his events – 50, 100 and 200m Breaststroke.
His times were:
100m Breaststroke – 1min 03.58sec
200m Breaststroke – 2min 18.23sec
50m Breaststroke – 29.28sec

23-year-old Shikha Tandon also had a great meet. She won a gold medal in the 100m Freestyle and a silver medal in the 50m Freestyle. She created National records in both her events – 50 and 100m Freestyle. In the 50m Freestyle she missed the Olympic qualifying mark by 0.05sec (it takes a person longer to blink).
Her times were:
50m Freestyle – 26.37sec
100m Freestyle – 57.98sec

21-year-old Rehan Poncha went on to win two gold medals – 200m Individual Medley and 200m Backstroke – and two silver medals – 100 and 200m Butterfly. He created a National record in the 200m Individual Medley.
His times were:
200m Individual Medley – 2:08.33sec
200m Backstroke – 2:09.38sec
100m Butterfly – 56.61sec
200m Butterfly – 2:02.90sec

18-year-old Rohit Havaldar won one silver medal in the 1500m Freestyle and one bronze medal in the 200m Backstroke.
His times were:
1500m Freestyle – 16:28.20sec
200m Backstroke – 2:10.29sec
400m Freestyle – 4:02.10sec
200m Freestyle – 1:57.0sec

9th FINA World Swimming Championships (Short Course i.e. 25m)

The 9^th FINA World Swimming Championships was held at Manchester, Great Britain from 9-13^th April. The M.E.N. Arena, the largest indoor arena in Europe that is known to host some of the biggest touring acts, was converted to be the venue for this meet. This was the fastest ever championships with eighteen World Records being created. Click here to get the list of World Records and Championship Records created.

Ryan Lochte (USA) and Kristy Coventry (Zimbabwe) were named the best swimmers in the male and female category respectively. They broke 3 World Records each.

Men’s 50m Freestyle in which Duje Draganja from Croatia created a new World Record.

Ankur Poseria, who studies and trains at the University of Southern California, was the lone Indian representative.

Ankur got off to a great start as he swam a sizzling 100m Butterfly on the first day. He finished a very respectable 22^nd with a time of 52.96sec. He missed making the semi-finals (top 16) by 0.34. This is probably the closest an Indian swimmer has ever come to making a semi-final at the World Championships. Using a Short Course (25m) to Long Course (50m) converter we get a time of 53.60sec.

On the second day he swam the 50m Freestyle in which he finished 40^th with a time of 23.12sec. This roughly translates to a long course time of 23.81sec.

On the third day he swam the 50m Butterfly in which he finished 31^st with a time of 24.50sec.

On the fourth day he swam the 100m Freestyle in which he finished 47^th with a time of 51.14sec. This roughly translates to a long course time of 52.67sec.

Click here for all the results.

Indians @ 2008 Telstra Australian Swimming Championships – Day 6, 7and 8

The results of the Indian swimmers on Day 6:

50m Breaststroke Prelims and Semi-finals: Sandeep Sejwal clocked a time of 29.91 to finish joint 12th in the Prelims.
Later in the evening Sandeep clocked 30.48 to finish 15th in the Semifinals.
Sandeep’s best time is 29.36 (National record).

Men’s 50m Freestyle Semi-Finals (Eamon Sullivan breaks the World record):


Women’s 100m Freestyle Finals (Lisbeth Trickett breaks the World record):



The results of the Indian swimmers on Day 7:

Women’s 50m Freestyle Prelims: Shikha Tandon clocked a time of 26.87 to finish 23rd.
Shikha holds the National record with a time of 26.50 set in 2003.
The Olympic qualifying time is 26.32

1500m Freestyle Prelims: Mandar Divase clocked a time of 16:18.09 to finish 17th. Rohit Havaldar clocked a time of 16:38.23 to finish 19th.
Mandar holds the National record with a time of 16:17.58.
The Olympic qualifying time is 15:45.12.

Men’s 50m Freestyle Finals (Eamon Sullivan breaks the World record):



The Indian team's bid to get a few more berths at the Beijing Olympic Games ended unsuccessfully today. The only bright spark was Shikha’s National record in the 100m Freestyle. The fact that all non-Australian swimmers were allowed to swim only in the morning prelims, in Olympic events, made it that much more tougher for the Indians to get the elusive qualifying time.

It was unfortunate that Virdhawal Khade, who was in great form in lead up to these championships, could not participate due to an injury. He is back in the water and is expected to race at the Australian Age-group Championships from April 9-13 at Brisbane. It was a year back, almost to the day, when Virdhawal swam an amazing 200m Freestyle at the 2007 Melbourne World Swimming Championships to qualify for the Beijing Olympic Games.

The swimmers will now head back to their respective training bases in preparation for the next Olympic qualifying meet.


Day 8:

Women's 50m Freestyle Finals (Lisbeth Trickett breaks the World record):

Indians @ 2008 Telstra Australian Swimming Championships – Day 5

The results of the Indian swimmers on Day 5:

100m Freestyle Prelims (Women): Shikha Tandon clocked 58.09 to finish 34^th. This is Shikha’s personal best time and is also a new National record. Shikha previous best was 58.32 which she clocked in 2003.
The Olympic qualifying time is 57.17.

200m Individual Medley Prelims: Rehan Poncha clocked 2:10.29 to finish 22^nd.
Rehan holds the National record with a time of 2:08.80.
The Olympic qualifying time is 2:05.65.

800m Freestyle Prelims: Mandar Divase clocked a time of 8:44.44.
The National record is in the name of Aaron D’souza with a time of 8:33.37.

Men's 100m Freestyle finals:

Indians @ 2008 Telstra Australian Swimming Championships – Day 2, 3 and 4

The results of the Indian swimmers on Day 2:

200m Freestyle Prelims: Rohit Havaldar clocked 1:59.95 to finish 60^th. Mandar Divase clocked 2:03.61 to finish 63^rd.
The National record is in the name of Virdhawal Khade with a time of 1:52.41.
The Olympic qualifying time is 1:52.53.

100m Backstroke Prelims: Rehan Poncha clocked 1:00.85 to finish 43^rd.
The National record is in the name of Rana Joy Punja with a time of 58.2 set in 1988.
The Olympic qualifying time is 57.7.

Women's 50m Backstroke finals (Sophie Edington breaks the World Record):

The results of the Indian swimmers on Day 3:

200m Butterfly Prelims: Rehan Poncha clocked 2:03.73 to finish 11^th. This is Rehan’s personal best time.
The National record is in the name of Khazan Singh Tokas with a time of 2:02.38 set in 1986.
The Olympic qualifying time is 2:01.79.

Men's 200m Freestyle finals:

The results of the Indian swimmers on Day 4:

200m Breaststroke Prelims: Sandeep Sejwal clocked 2:21.40 to finish 8^th.
Sandeep holds the National record with a time of 2:19.51.
The Olympic qualifying time is 2:18.37.

Women's 200m IM finals (Stephanie Rice breaks the World Record):

Note:
As per the rules, only swimmers eligible to represent Australia will compete in the semi-final or final of an Australian championship event which is a selection trials for the Olympic Games, World Championships, Commonwealth Games or Pan Pacific Championships. Hence the Indian swimmers are allowed to swim only in the morning prelims.

Indians @ 2008 Telstra Australian Swimming Championships – Day 1

The results of the Indian swimmers on Day 1:

400m IM Prelims: Rehan Poncha clocked 4:34.29 to finish 10^th. Rehan’s best time is 4:33.59 (National Record).
The Olympic qualifying time is 4:27.44.

400m Freestyle Prelims: Rohit Havaldar clocked 4:12.52 to finish 31^st. His best time is 4:05.98.
Mandar Divase clocked 4:14.21 to finish 32^nd.
The National Record is in the name of Rehan Poncha with a time of 4:04.49.
The Olympic qualifying time is 3:58.10.

100m Breaststroke Prelims: Sandeep Sejwal clocked 1:05.49 to finish 11^th. Sandeep’s best time is 1:04.36 (National Record).
The Olympic qualifying is time is 1:03.72.

Note:
As per the rules, only swimmers eligible to represent Australia will compete in the semi-final or final of an Australian championship event which is a selection trials for the Olympic Games, World Championships, Commonwealth Games or Pan Pacific Championships. Hence the Indian swimmers are allowed to swim only in the morning prelims.

Women's 400m IM finals (Stephanie Rice breaks the World Record):


Women's 50m Backstroke semi-finals (Emily Seebohm breaks the World Record):

Indians @ 2008 Telstra Australian Swimming Championships

The 2008 Telstra Australian Swimming Championships is being held at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Center from 22-29^th March. The Australian team for the Beijing Olympic Games will be chosen here.

This meet will also feature the following top Indian swimmers who are vying to make the Indian Olympic team:

Sandeep Sejwal – 50, 100 and 200m Breaststroke.
Rehan Poncha – 100m Backstroke, 200m Butterfly, 200 and 400m IM
Mandar Divase – 200, 400, 800 and 1500m Freestyle
Rohit Havaldar – 200, 400 and 1500m Freestyle
Shikha Tandon – 50 and 100m Freestyle

Virdhawal Khade, who has already qualified for the Beijing Olympic Games, suffered a minor injury during training earlier this week putting his participation in doubt.

As per the rules, only swimmers eligible to represent Australia will compete in the semi-final or final of an Australian championship event which is a selection trials for the Olympic Games, World Championships, Commonwealth Games or Pan Pacific Championships. Hence the Indian swimmers will be allowed to swim only in the morning heats; this would mean that they will get only one chance in each of their events under non-ideal conditions

Check this earlier post ‘Ladder to Beijing’ to see where things currently stand.

Click here to see the Program of events.
Click here to see the results.
Click here to see the start list.