As a sport, swimming in India is improving, clearly if quietly.
It may not move the needle in terms of clicks, website hits or social media hype in a country obsessed with medals and bottom lines, so the incremental gains are often overlooked. And for it to make a splash, swimmers have to do well in one of the sports that is truly global and already at the peak of human performance.
That’s a tall order.
But the indications would suggest that the trajectory is in the right direction. The records are rewritten constantly, the past Olympic cycle had two swimmers going under the Olympic Qualification Time (A qualification) for the first time ever and four more who made the Olympic Selection Time.
Despite these positives, there are some concerns. The women’s performance has lagged behind significantly to the men’s over the past years.
“What is happening now is the opposite of the 80s and 90s. The girl’s are not stepping up the way they did,” says Nihar Ameen - a Dronacharya Award winner and a coach of multiple Olympic swimmers. “Earlier you had swimmers like Nisha Millet and Shikha Tandon, two who really made the grade at the top, and many others. After that there has been a vacuum. It's a mystery that even we are trying to solve.”
In the recently concluded senior National meet, the men’s division had seven new individual meet records while the women had none.
In the best Indian times among men (individual), 13 have been set after 2018 while just four remain unbroken from the time before. And those four are split between Virdhawal Khade and Sandeep Sejwal, only two Indian swimmers to win a medal at the Asian Games.
In the women’s section, 10 of the best times have been set before 2018 and just seven since.
In the recently concluded National meet, Richa Mishra - at the age of 38 - finished with one gold and a silver. She had four golds in the 2019 Nationals in Bhopal. In fact, she holds five of the best Indian times - one set in 2007, one in 2010, two in 2011 and the latest coming in 2018. No one, not even Richa herself, has swam faster since these times were registered.
“Women's competition level is low. I am not so impressed with the senior swimmers,” admits Nisha Millet, who swam for India at the Sydney Olympics. “If Shikha (Tandon) and I swam now, 16 years or so after we left, I would still have won the 400 freestyle. Shikha's record (set in 2009) is still there. That is not cool.”
A look at the junior age group would suggest a great future for women’s swimming in India. Oftentimes, the juniors even move into the senior meet and outswim the competition like Ridhima Veerendra Kumar did in the last National meet at the age of 14.
“The juniors are doing very well. But are they going to hold the course and stay the distance? They also need to do more distance events, the 200 freestyle or the 400 individual medley, everyone wants to do the sprint events,” says Ameen.
“At a younger age group, I see more girls taking to the sport. Somewhere along the path, they lose their way,” admits Nisha.
So the question is what ails women’s swimming - who have the same infrastructure, support and platform as the men?
It’s a conundrum that the coaches and Swimming Federation of India (SFI) are struggling to find answers to. They know parts of it - some from experience, education and observations and others in speculation. Ameen puts it best when he says ‘it’s a little bit of everything.’
“Girls themselves and their parents are not aiming high. We have to start having conversation at the younger age itself to have that killer mentality, to aim for timing rather than gold. You win and the time is below the previous best then that is not an improvement at all,” feels Nisha.
The attrition rate for swimmers as they move into college is very high, among boys and girls. That is a major stumbling block. But it affects the women more.
“We have good youngsters. But there were others who did well and after 12th standard, are not there in the National meets,” says Monal Chokshi, SFI secretary. “There are those who go to the US for education and swim there as well but we've not seen anything drastic coming from them either, despite the high level of competition there. It all depends on parents and the academic balance they are looking at. Academics and sports do not play well in India.”
The Sports quota allows the swimmers access to best courses in top colleges.
“Once you get into engineering or medicine, the science streams, then it is difficult to balance (swimming and education),” admits Ameen.
In fact swimming has contributed to many doctors, engineers and business graduates.
“I’m watching this trend. They swim till age group and go to college and don’t swim seriously beyond that. It’s good to see them get high level education but they also get there because of swimming,” says Maana Patel, Tokyo Olympian.
“The top junior girls hit the National gold medal level quickly. So maybe there is a ‘been there, done that’ kind of feeling. After puberty, to compete at the higher levels, girls have to put on bulk. A lot of parents don't want them to get bulky - that is not the ethos in India,” adds Chokshi, half wondering and half informed.
John Christopher, who coaches at Basavanagudi Aquatic Centre, also feels injury is a major concern. A point well taken by Chokshi.
“Winning is clearly a motivation. So if they get an injury, they get into the rehab phase and then don't win and that makes a difference,” Chokshi says.
The lack of opportunity to find work if they concentrate on the sport is also a concern. Not all government teams take women in their roster.
“Lot of men work for Police and Railways etc, they offer these jobs for women as well. But the conditions are not very conducive. You have to report a certain number of days to different camps. In Police it could be in some far off places, in small tents and it’s difficult. So the parents may feel like ‘no, let the men take it’,” says Nisha.
“Maybe we need to look at other companies like Indian Oil or someone to come forward and help the girls so that they know that even as they are competing and training they can earn money and support their family. Or more part time opportunities like what they have abroad.”
There is more support from schools and Universities these days. The Government too, through various schemes, are helping more, not to mention sponsors coming in more than ever before. Swimming, with a little bit of help, is a possible career option now. But it starts at home.
“Parents have a big role. But they want instant success. We (coaches) try to tell the parents, their 10 year old will win gold in eight years and they need to not go for quick results,” says Ameen.
“Schools and universities are helping out. But parents have to do their due diligence and find schools with good sporting culture. Sports quota is a means to an end at times, that has to change as well. They need to continue performing in the sport that earned them the opportunity,” feels Nisha.
Christopher believes the Khelo India games - both at the school and university level - can be game changers in providing more competition, monetary support and just pure motivation. A robust competition system is the bedrock for the success of American and Australian swimming. The results of this, he feels, will be visible in another 10 years time.
One can already see this among the men in India where the top swimmers are constantly pushing one another. A case in point is the Olympic cycle this year, there were multiple swimmers with B qualification going faster almost every time they competed. When SFI confirmed Srihari’s nomination for the Olympics, Prakash breached the A cut to secure his slot. Forced to up the ante, Srihari also earned the A cut a day later. The duo and Kushagra broke records again as the Asian Games appeared on the horizon. It's a competition.
For their part, even SFI is doing all they can.
“We are looking at this closely. We are working with Dr Genadijus Sokolovas (physiologist and sports science expert) on a progression module to find young talent and nurture them through the maturation curve,” says Chokshi. “This will also help in prevention and early detection of injury and not to over-train at a young age. We are also working on strength and conditioning because we now find swimmers who have frames comparable to the international counterparts routinely. Hopefully we will see results a few years down the line.”
Swimmers never had it better - in terms of systems and support - than today. The culture in and around the sport is also growing. But the intangibles and the echoes of the past that still lingers. There is no clear answer to the question that can raise women’s swimming again to standards of yesteryears and further. In fact there are many and perhaps, it's only a matter of time before they find a watershed. A pool is as good a place as any to look for it.