BENGALURU: In 2006, a 15-year-old Virdhawal Khade took the pools in India by storm. Three individual gold medals at the South Asian Games and six gold medals at the National Games a year later enhanced the teenager’s profile. Then Khade earned the qualifying marks for the 2008 Beijing Olympics at the age of 16, becoming the youngest Indian swimmer to achieve that feat. He gave his best, setting a national record in 100-metre freestyle but failed to qualify for the semifinals.
Two years later, he once again hogged the limelight, clinching the bronze medal in the 50m butterfly event in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China to give India a medal in swimming after 24 years. It seemed the boy from Kolhapur, Maharashtra, was born to be the flag-bearer of Indian swimming. By the time he turned 21, he had achieved almost everything an Indian swimmer could dream of, including the prestigious Arjuna award. But that was it.
Khade’s fall from grace was abrupt. The Maharashtra government gave him a job as a tehsildar and that affected his career in the pool. “Failing to make it to the London Olympics 2012 was depressing. I was training hard and had ‘B’ qualification marks but still couldn’t be in the Olympics. I wanted to quit, go away from everything. It was frustrating,” Khade recalled. “I hardly had time after taking the government job. I was at the peak of my career and the pressures of my job was affecting me. When people were training for 2014 Commonwealth Games, I was busy on election duty. It was a very difficult phase.”
Khade, however, took inspiration from his idol Michael Phelps. Like the 23-time Olympic gold medallist, he too decided to give his swimming career another shot. The platform was the Senior National Aquatic Championship last year in October and he did not disappoint, clinching two gold medals. His move to the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence in Bengaluru in November to resume training under his long-term coach Nihar Ameen bore fruit. The 26-year-old clocked his season’s best timing to win the gold medal in the 50m freestyle event in the Singapore National Age Group Championships last week. It was enough to get a place in the Indian swimming contingent for the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.
Now that he has made a comeback, he doesn’t want to let this opportunity go. Khade, who will race in the 50m freestyle and 50m butterfly events at the CWG next month, is focused on qualifying for finals. After that, he wants to take it forward one step at a time, first the Asian Games later this year and then hopefully qualify for Tokyo 2020 Olympics. “It was an opportunity lost when I was at my peak. Now I’m at 85 per cent and haven’t yet recovered. But I’m spending a lot of time in the gym to be fit,” said Khade, who is supported by Speedo.
His coach Ameen believes he is in his best shape at the moment and can make up for the lost time. “We don’t want to push things. He has been out for quite a few years and he is yet to reach 100 per cent. But modern equipment and scientific training have helped him recover faster,” he said.
krishnendu@newindianexpress.com
