NEW DELHI: It’s fair to say that Srihari Nataraj has had an impressive last month. He has broken the 50 and 100m backstroke national records multiple times apart from setting a new mark once in the 200m event. Significantly, he has also managed to meet the Olympic Selection Time in the 100m meet. While it doesn’t guarantee him a spot at the Olympics, laying down markers gives wings to dreams. It also adds belief, a powerful intangible tool.
And it’s obvious that the 18-year-old has been boosted by the times he has set at the ongoing Junior World Championships in Budapest. Fresh from setting a new mark in the 50m backstroke in the semifinal on Thursday, he said he can go even faster. “I can breach that Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT) inside six months,” he told this daily.
Considering he is still 0.80 seconds away from achieving OQT in the 100m, it’s a tall ask. But his incremental improvements in the 100 and 200m is proof that his confidence isn’t misplaced. This time last year, Nataraj’s national records in the two events stood at 56.71 seconds (100m) and 2:02.97 (200m) seconds. In 12 months, he has reduced it to 54.69 and 2:02.08 seconds respectively.
But his ambitions speak volumes because he said he was a touch unsatisfied with his returns so far in Hungary. “I had set myself a target of the ‘A’ timing in the 100m backstroke final few days ago. I thought I could have gone faster than what I clocked. So I was not really satisfied with my effort, but it’s still been a good week.”
It’s been a good week because after identifying and spending extra hours in the pool to works on his turn and kicks off the wall, it’s paying off. “That aspect (the turn) of my swimming has improved... 100%. It’s thanks to a combination of working on his flip as well as improving lung capacity. I have worked on improving my capacity through a combination of exercises and diet also plays an important role in that.”
Why is that important? With an improved capacity, he can flip and bounce off the wall further than before. All elite swimmers are capable of gliding underwater for a good few metres after bouncing off the walls, something Nataraj aims to do very soon. “In the (100m) final, I did take the lead after the turn and that’s something that has not happened much for me. Hopefully, I can build on it.”
With more chances round the corner — the senior Nationals, as well as the AASF Asian Age Group Championships, is within the 40 days — Nataraj’s fledgling career graph is headed only one way — up.