CHENNAI: Even as the country’s leading athletes have been confined to their houses, one elite athlete has been going to work every day. Swimmer Virdhawal Khade is posted as a tahsildar.
“Since I work out of the collector’s office, I am directly or indirectly doing COVID-19 related work every day,” the Mumbaikar told this daily on Monday.
The work, Khade says, has given him a perspective on life. “If I was just a swimmer and nothing else, I would have probably been cribbing about not getting my workouts in the pool and how I have been missing my training. But the onus really shouldn’t be on sports at the moment. The focus should be on helping others and that’s what I am doing at the moment.”
The 28-year-old, who hasn’t been in the pool since the third week of March, reckons it will be like that in Mumbai at least till the end of May.
“Since there are cases in Mumbai, it’s going to be like that way till the end of May at least. But in other places, like Bengaluru for instance, the swimmers based there can begin training in the next 10 days or something like that.”
What are the challenges a swimmer faces after being away from the pool for a long time? “Think that you have been in bed for two day straight and suddenly you get up to walk. Those first few steps will be weird. It’s going to be like that for all of us,” the 2010 Asian Games medal winner says.
For the time being, Khade is managing land-based exercises thanks to a basic set-up he has at home. “I do have two dumbbells (2kg and 5kg) at home. So I just use it every day. I try to get creative when I am using those so as to break the monotony.”