CHENNAI: K Saran, a 14-year-old, refuses to let injuries prevent him from hogging the limelight. In the 31st South Zone Aquatic Selection Championship which concluded on Sunday, the Chennai boy clinched gold in 200m individual medley.
He was also part of three relay teams — 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m medley, 4x200 freestyle (with S Krishna Pranav, AP Naval, S Kartikeyan in all three) — which won gold medals.
It was in 2015 when Saran met with an accident and injured his shoulder after he slipped into the swimming pool. He was suggested rest for three months and that’s when things went from bad to worse. He hit his injured shoulder against a door at home and doctors diagnosed a fractured shoulder.
His period of rest was extended to six months. But the fire in his belly did not let him sit back. He started practising before his shoulder healed completely, which aggravated the injury and resulted in a ligament tear.
“I couldn’t participate in any competition for one year because of the injury,” said Saran, a 10th standard student in St John’s Matriculation Higher Secondary School. It’s been three years since, but it still haunts him. “A week ago, I had shoulder pain for which my doctor prescribed painkillers. Winning these medals and getting selected for the South Zone event is a morale booster for me,” said Saran, who also won silver in the 100m and 50m freestyle events.
Saran joined ORCA in June this year after having trained at the Anna Swimming Pool and Turtles Swim School. “I am happy that he got selected for the South Zone event. He can take pain to achieve his goals. He is talented and may be in a year or so, we can see him in national competitions,” said former national coach KK Mukundan, who is head coach at ORCA Swimming Academy.
Overall boys champions: SDAT Dolphin (302 points); Overall girls champions: SDAT Dolphin (271); Overall boys and girls: SDAT Dolphin (573). Team championship: Boys: Group 1: Vels (95); Group 2: ORCA (123); Group 3: Turtles (74); Group 4: SDAT Dolphin (55); Group 5: SDAT ASP (67); Group 6: SDAT Dolphin (34). Girls: Group 1: SDAT Velachery (68); Group 2: SDAT Dolphin (111); Group 3: ORCA (94); Group 4: Marina (62); Group 5: SDAT ASP (64); Group 6: SDAT Dolphin (69). Individual championship: Boys: Group 1: Alfred Rajan (Vels, 33); Group 2: Sarvepalli Krishna Pranav (ORCA, 35); Group 3: H Nithik (SDAT ASP, 26); Group 4: Sarvepalli Sai Aditya (ORCA, 31); Group 5: MS Nitheesh (TDSA Tirunelveli, 35); Group 6: T Kabilan (Lifespring, 33). Girls: Group 1: V Varsha (SDAT Velachery, 35); Group 2: DS Srenethi (SDAT Theni, 35); Group 3: K Akshita (SDAT Dolphin, 24); Group 4: B Roshini (SDAT Madurai, 35); Group 5: Pramiti Gnanasekaran (SDAT ASP, 33); Group 6: S Madhusree (SDAT Dolphin, 28).