Participants jump into the pool as the competition begins at Moin-ul-Haq Stadium in Patna on Monday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, May 23: These men have had to swim against the high tides of life, literally.

The 200-odd differently abled participants, who took part in the 11th Bihar State-level Swimming Championship for the Disabled, showcased their skills at the Chandragupta Jal Vihar Kendra at Moin-ul-Haq stadium today.

Shivaji Kumar, the secretary of Bihar Disabled Sports Academy, said: “Around 200 people from all the districts have taken part in the event.”

The programme was categorised into various sections for participants who were hearing impaired, mentally, physically and visually challenged.

The winners of the event will qualify for the 12th national-level swimming championship for disabled people, scheduled to be held in September in Madhya Pradesh.

Kumar said: “Apart from categorisation of participants according to their disadvantage, the event has been structured for various swimming styles such as freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke and relay.”

The swimming championship is a part of a series of events that the academy has planned for 2011-12. According to the calendar issued by the academy, the Special Olympics national badminton coaching camp will be held at Nawada from May 25 to June 1.

On August 13 and 14, the district-level sports meet will be held in Bhagalpur. The Bihar state-level cycling meet would be held at Madhubani in September.

Many participants at today’s meet had taken part in national and international events. Sandeep, a physically challenged person pursuing his masters degree in geography from Patna University, said: “I had taken part in two international events for disabled persons in swimming and athletics in Ireland (2004) and Taiwan (2007) respectively.”

Sandeep, who had taken part in the International Wheelchair and Amputee World Games, Taiwan, in 2007 in athletics and stood fourth, said: “My disability has never been a hindrance to my zeal to achieve my goals though India, particularly Bihar, lacks the necessary infrastructure and financial support from the government.”

Sandeep is a resource person in the academy and trains people in swimming and athletics category who later train disabled people at the block and panchayat levels.

Gajendra Sahni, another physically challenged athlete, who has taken part in many national-level swimming championships, said: “In Bihar, we don’t have the necessary infrastructure in sports for disabled persons. Moreover, negligence of government agencies also proves to be a roadblock in receiving financial assistance.”

Sahni said as there were no proper swimming facilities for disabled persons, he had no option but to take swimming lessons in Ahmedabad for a year. “Government agencies and non-government organisations should come forward to promote sports activities for the disabled in Bihar,” he added.