AHMEDABAD: Srihari Nataraj is riding the crest of a wave. At the ongoing Asian Swimming Championships in the city, the swimmer has set national records, broken a 16-year medal drought and medalled four times, including in individual freestyle events. He's feeling so confident about his place and space that he has set his sights on medalling at the Asian Games in Japan and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, competitions where the competition will be that much higher.
Some subtle changes in training, having a full-on training block in Ahmedabad ahead of the Asian Championships, immersing himself in Swimple, the tech-oriented data solutions company, has all contributed to Nataraj 'winning my first major international medals'.
The most logical start point would be to describe the changes in his training. He no longer sees himself as a backstroke specialist. His bread and butter is still the backstroke but he is having a lot of fun experimenting with freestyle events'. "I have changed the way I train," he tells this daily after the fourth medal he won at the end of an exhilarating silver in the men's 4x200 freestyle relay on Monday night. "I have gone from backstroke to free. It's been fun exploring that, I'm having a lot of fun in training. It seems to be paying off."
On Sunday, Day One of the Championships, the 24-year-old opened India's account with a second place finish in the 200m freestyle event; a first medal for India in 16 years. He put It down to having a very solid training block in Ahmedabad. "We have been here for a while, a month of very good training. There has been a very solid atmosphere in the camp."
At the Asian Games next year, his current plans revolve around swimming the 50, 100 and the 200 back and the 100 and 200 free. "These are the five events I might look at," he said. "I just know that this is a chance I won't get again to win a few medals."