BENGALURU: Sandeep Sejwal may well take his last plunge in the water in Jakarta.
“I am more or less done after Asian Games,” he told Express. This might not be a huge surprise, considering the breaststroke specialist had more or less given up after the last Asian Games. It was after a change of heart that he came back. However, this time, the decision to quit appears final.
“I will be 30 in January. I am not getting younger. Swimming is a physical sport,” quipped Sejwal.
This decision might also have been influenced by a foot injury, which had forced him out of the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast earlier this year.
At the Asian Games, he will not feature in 200m breaststroke and 100m will also not be his main target. He will again be eyeing the 50m, which won him a bronze in 2014. He will be eager to end his career on a high. Completing a rehab process was the first part of his comeback. Getting back in shape and competing against the best is always tough. In the last few months, he has been working on stability and strength. The results have been encouraging.
He looked sharp and won the 50m title in events in Thailand and Singapore. The Delhi swimmer clocked 27.59 seconds to beat his own nine-year record (27.84s) at the event in Singapore. In fact, he bettered the national record thrice in a single day.
“It is always disappointing to miss events like the CWG, which comes once in four years, and that too due to injury. But my target was always the Asian Games. After the injury, it was the Thailand Open where I was not too happy with my timings, although I won the gold medal. After two months, I was pleased with my performance. I won in Singapore with good timings. The confidence level has increased since I am swimming faster.” Such timings hold Sejwal — who won bronze with an effort of 28.26s at the last Asian Games in South Korea — in good stead.
But despite improvements, he needs to do better than in Singapore. His timing there was the seventh best in Asia in 2018. This year has been brilliant for swimmers in the 50m breaststroke category, with Japan’s Koseki Yasuhiro having a timing of 26.94. Yan Zibei (27.16), Niyama Masaki ( 27.37) Li Xiang (27.52) have also done better than Sejwal. The Arjuna award winner feels he can better his Singapore effort in Jakarta, following a productive training stint under coach Nihar Ameen.
“This competition is going to be tough. I have also been tracking the top timings this year, which have been very good. I am following other athletes closely. Considering that after my injury I was able to produce my best-ever timings, I am confident of doing better than Singapore at the Asian Games. I am expecting to deliver in the top field,” said the 29-year-old.
Considering the best timings of the year, the Asian Games gold winner in Indonesia has to do better than the 2014 champion Dimitry Balandin, who had clocked 27.78. That kind of an effort may not be enough even for a lesser medal this time. However, Ameen feels that such kind of timings might not be possible to achieve in a big event like the Asian Games.
“What people are doing in these low-profile meets is something. Doing it in high-profile events, when there is tension and stress, is something else. As for Sejwal, he has trained brilliantly,” said Ameen. Now, all eyes will be on the swimmer and his last tango in the pool.
Ashim.sunam@newindianexpress.com