Virdhawal Khade, India’s fastest swimmer who qualified for the Tokyo Games before the pandemic struck, has said he may be forced to retire if pools don’t open soon.
The Asian Games bronze medallist told The Telegraph that there had been no communication from the sports ministry on the opening of swimming pools.
“It is very frustrating,” said Khade, after finishing his workout on Monday evening at his residence in Bangalore. “It is unfair that swimming hasn’t been given permission in Unlock 1.0 to open up, especially when training in other sports has resumed. I feel like retiring because there is hardly any option. I am demotivated. There has been no word from the government. We have no idea if they care for swimmers or not.
“I train at the Padukone Academy here. I see people practising badminton. Government has allowed hockey players too. Then why not swimmers?”
He added: “In Karnataka you see restaurants and malls opening up, but we can’t train. It’s very disheartening. I feel a lot of youngsters will give up the sport altogether.”
In the unlock guidelines, the Union home ministry has not allowed swimming pools to open.
Khade had tweeted: “Might have to consider retiring from swimming. No news or communication of any sorts for being able to start swimming again. Wish swimming was treated the same as other sports in India.”
His tweet has been there for more than a day now, but no one from the government has got in touch with either him or the Swimming Federation of India.
“First, while practising, a swimmer can maintain social distance. There is no body contact as such. Plus the water in the pool is disinfected with chlorine. There is very little chance of infection. At least competitive swimmers should be allowed to train.
“Swimmers in most countries, who have qualified for the Olympics, are allowed to train under controlled environment. But we are not getting anything. It is very frustrating,” he said.
“The consensus in world swimming is that the right amount of chlorine can fight bacteria and keep the virus out of the water. We want pools to be opened only for competitive swimmers, we train in lanes, we can have staggered timings, social distancing can easily be maintained in pools.”
He added: “Any training outside the pool does not really help swimmers. The government should collaborate with the federation, who have already appealed to the sports ministry, and find a way.”
Khade was one of the first to qualify for Tokyo, but feels he has lost ground. “I have not been able to enter the pool since the lockdown started. It’s a huge drawback.”
Khade added: “Olympics and National Games have been postponed so it’s very difficult to have the drive to train off water and there is only so much we can do outside the water. While the rest of the world is moving forward, we are going backwards. We (swimmers) need support from the government, especially if we need more youngsters to take to the sport as a career.
“It is true that we swimmers have not really done too well in the international arena. But we have also been neglected a lot. You can see it now also. Those of us who have made swimming into a career need to have the support to be able to train.”
