BENGALURU: Over the last two years, Srihari Nataraj has made steady progress to become Indian swimming’s poster boy. The two national championships (junior and senior), where he secured seven gold and two silver medals including two national records, were just examples of the youngster’s prowess in the pool. So, it was natural that there were big expectations going into the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in Argentina.
The Bengaluru lad, however, was off the pace and failed to find his rhythm and make a significant mark at the event. In India’s best ever Youth Olympics, Nataraj returned empty-handed, but not disappointed.
In his three backstroke events, he reached the finals only once, finishing sixth in the 100-metre category, clocking 56.12s. His national record mark is 55.86s which he clocked at the Asian Games in August. “I won’t say I’m disappointed. Yes, I’m not satisfied with the performance. I know exactly what areas I have to improve and that will be my sole focus after I return to Bengaluru. I have to take a small break of 15 days so that I can recover fully and then I will start pushing myself again,” he said.
Apart from the 100m, the other two events — 50m and 200m — did not go well for him. Nataraj failed to progress to the semifinals in both events, clocking 26.55s in 50m and 2:04.80s in the 200m heats. Perhaps, one of the factors that affected him was the rather long season he has had. “Honestly, I won’t say it took a complete toll on my body. But yes, I couldn’t plan properly for the Youth Olympics. Also, I made some technical errors during the race and that cost me. But it was a good experience and a good learning curve,” the 17-year-old told Express from Buenos Aires.
Surprisingly, with the two-member swimming team, there was no physio or masseur present during the event. That had an adverse effect on Nataraj. The youngster had the 100m final on the evening of October 8 and the 50m heats the next morning. With little time to recover, a physio or a masseur could have helped him. “I’m not complaining but yes, if we had a masseur or a physio, I think, I could have put up my best performance in the 50m. But my body couldn’t recover completely,” the national record holder in all three backstroke events said.
With no major events scheduled this year apart from the World Championships in December, Nataraj’s sole target remains qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The qualifying events will start next year and he is targeting an overall improvement before that. He will continue to train under his coach AC Jayarajan in Bengaluru while receiving inputs from national coach Pradeep Kumar. But Nataraj is not looking for a training session abroad.
“It’s been a busy year and I don’t know if I will be in the team for the short course World Championship. If I’m in the team, I will start preparing for that. Otherwise, I will keep improving in the pool under Jayarajan sir,” Nataraj said. “I don’t have any particular programme for the Olympics. But I will focus on 100m and 200m with Pradeep sir’s inputs. I’m not looking at a training stint abroad as I get a free lane here and I enjoy the freedom. In other countries, I won’t get that. So, training here will be the best.”
krishnendu@newindianexpress.com
Performance and records in 2018