Elvis Ali Hazarika during training in Guwahati on Friday. Picture by S.H. Patgiri

Guwahati, March 26: Assam’s medal prospects in swimming at the 33rd National Games here received a huge boost with champion Elvis Ali Hazarika returning to the state after skipping the previous edition in Hyderabad in 2002.

Elvis returned to the B.P. Chaliha swimming pool, R.G. Baruah Sports Complex, here on Tuesday to participate in the Assam Swimming Association’s coaching camp. The 40-day camp is the first phase of the coaching for the 2005 Games.

Elvis, who was among the three state swimmers to qualify for the Hyderabad Games, said he would take the plunge into the pool for Assam because it was a matter of pride and prestige for the hosts.

The swimmer is attending the camp at Dighali Pukhuri here that began on Tuesday.

In 2002, the former international medallist promised never to participate for Assam in protest against the state government, Assam Swimming Association and the Assam Olympic Association (AOA)’s alleged apathy towards talented swimmers.

Citing an instance, the swimmer recalled how he had to fend for himself despite earning laurels for the state.

Defending his reluctance to turn out for Assam in the 32nd edition of the Games, he said he had always paid for his training and medicines. He was not even considered for a state government job.

Elvis, an inspector with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), had resolved to continue to train for regular berths in the Indian team, but never participate in tournaments for any other state other than his employers.

In accordance with his resolution, he rejected offers from Karnataka, Maharashtra, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Indian Railways for the Hyderabad Games, “because I cannot betray Assam by turning out for others”.

Elvis, who holds a 12-year national record of swimming the 100m freestyle in less than a minute as a sub-junior in the 1994 nationals in Mumbai, said he has been frustrated since the day he won the first Imphal National Games medal for the state in 1999.

When other states rewarded the medallists with incentives, he said he was not even formally congratulated by the Assam government. He won a silver and two bronzes for the state in Imphal.

The only Indian to have won a medal in the Asia-Pacific Games protested the state swimming association’s alleged regressive policy.

He said several officials of the association had influenced the state government in 1996 to stop the Rs 5,000 monthly stipend he was awarded by the Hiteswar Saikia government in September 1994.

The officials had campaigned at Dispur against the stipend on the ground that he was employed by the CRPF, he said. However, according to the Swimming Federation of India, there is no such rule restricting a sportsman from receiving state grants because he is a central government employee.

Elvis has participated in the Beijing Asiad, Commonwealth Games and SAARC Games at Kuala Lumpur. He was a regular at national and state-level meets in his early twenties.

The swimming association president Utpal Sarma has admitted that Assam would have won medals in swimming in Hyderabad if Elvis had taken the pool for the state.