BANGALORE, February 9: One hundred twenty countries, five girls below 16, one Indian. That was the scenario at the World Swimming championships held at Perth, Australia, recently.The lone Indian and incidentally the first from the country at a World Championship (there have been others in the long distance races) was Nisha Millet, literally wading through a host of World champions and World record holders some of whose posters decorate her bedroom.
Little wonder then that the 15-year-old schoolgirl with just four others in her age group for company was awe-struck, scared and lost, in an unfamiliar country, without a coach to guide and support her.
The Bangalore girl did not even achieve her best times, in Perth. She was woefully short on competition prior to her departure as she had peaked at the Thiruvananthapuram Senior Nationals after which she had only three weeks to prepare for the Worlds.
Nisha was extremely lucky to get this `huge, amazing break' so early in her life, thanks to the SportsAuthority of Karnataka which sanctioned Rs 1.5 lakhs in a jiffy, and the efforts of the Swimming Federation of India.
``It was just the right kind of exposure for Nisha, thankfully at the right time,'' said Nihar Amin, her coach at the K C Reddy Swim Centre here. ``We need to provide this kind of exposure to our youngsters,'' he emphasised. That will be possible only if the Government does not insist on the qualifying norm, which, in any case, is beyond most Indian sportspersons.
The government usually insists of the qualifying standard - third place timing of the 1998 Asian Games at Hiroshima (where Nisha was a probable) for the Worlds. The target seems so daunting and so impossible that not many swimmers would even attempt it. At a time when the Indian swimmers need all the exposure they can get at a higher level of competition, the stiff qualifying norms seem to put a spoke in the wheel.
One solution would be to scrap the qualifying standards; just send the best in the land. It would open moredoors for swimmers to get a feel of competitive swimming, see and experience it, on a regular basis. It seems to work at the age-group level as India sends teams regularly for the Asia-Pacific meets, and the swimmers return with medals. All the more reason why the seniors be provided similar opportunities.
Nisha agreed. ``There were many swimmers who did not even finish. Countries like Mauritius, Macau, Senegal sent their swimmers when there was absolutely no chance of their winning.'' Nihar pointed out that the best swimmer at Perth, Michael Klim, swam in as many as 130 meets in preparation for the Worlds. ``We want lots of meets for our kids,'' Nihar said, adding: ``There are any number of good, international meets in the Asian circuit itself that our kids can go to.''
According to Nihar, in India a swimmer trains to train; not trains to race. So, in a competition, the swimmers are found wanting, he said. Participating in a competition is the best way to train, and also gauge the Indianswimmers.
Nisha, a 10th standard student of the Sophia's High School in Bangalore, is the queen of the pool in India, but in the Worlds, she placed 32nd.
After the Perth experience, Nihar sees a change in Nisha's attitude. ``I am motivated - I am taking swimming seriously,'' she chipped in. Nisha's outing has proved that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Viewed in a larger perspective, Nisha's trip to the Worlds could mean a revival in swimming fortunes in the country, for, after the Hiroshima Asian Games, no Indian has participated in a competition anywhere, until Perth.
If Nisha, a month short of her 16th birthday can finish 32nd when pitted against swimmers over 22, there is hope for other youngsters, provided they get similar breaks, and at the right time.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
