CHENNAI : Tirunelveli’s Jashua Thomas’s voyage to being the absolute best was arduous, but filled with a taste of success, and a little bit of chlorine. Now he is performing miracles by turning water into medals clinging onto his neck.
Jashua was a sensation at the Junior Swimming Championship held at Velachery. Thirteen years in the making, his father Thomas Durai, owner of a water plant in Tirunelveli, recalls his role in shaping Jashua’s life. “We didn’t have the facilities that are available in the city. Despite that Jashua worked hard with whatever he had,” said Thomas. One could describe the last month as Jashua’s month of revelation four bronze medals in the Khelo India Youth Games and five medals in the Junior Swimming Championship.
Growing up in a joint family had a vital role in shaping Jashua. His mother had to sacrifice her job as a school teacher to take care of him. He travelled every day for 20 km for 13 years for training. And he was rewarded with a lot of medals.
SAV Balakrishna School is where Jashua first stepped into the pool. “That’s where he fell in love with swimming,” recounted Thomas, expressing his gratitude to the school and to coaches Antony, Sulthan Zikkandar Bhasha and Zikkander Sarjan.
Jashua was first brought to the pool to learn swimming as a skill. “His coach encouraged him to take up competitive swimming and he did.” His maiden competition was a district meet where he was placed last. From thereon, Jashua worked hard both on land and water, and him standing on that podium with the medals became inevitable.
Expressing his happiness about breaking two state records, the 17-year-old said that at first, he had to choose between Kung-Fu and swimming classes. “It was difficult for me to manage both, and with the growing interest in swimming, I had to give up Kung-Fu.” This life-changing ultimatum has brought him all the way here, and has the potential to become India’s face of swimming in the coming years.
“I put six hours into training, and I feel good that the medals have come my way for it. My mother helps me study, and I study to pass tests,” he said. His aim is now set on the national record. “I missed out on it only by milliseconds, so the next two weeks are all about getting ready for it at Bhubaneswar. The effort that I put in and the happiness it brings when I win is the best part about being a swimmer,” he shared. It wouldn’t be only Tirunelveli that would cheer him, but the entire state now as he looks to elevate his performance.
Khelo India medal tally
100m Freestyle: Bronze (53.93)
100m Breaststroke: Bronze (1.06.45 sec)
200m Breaststroke: Bronze (2.26.98)
4x100m medley relay: Bronze
Junior Swimming Championship Medals
50m breaststroke: Gold (30.34)
100m Breaststroke: Gold (1.05.91)meet record
200m Breaststroke: Gold (2:28.07)
50m Freestyle: Gold (24.65)
100m Freestyle: Gold (53.17)(meet record)