Chahat Arora, Annie Jain and Bhavya Sachdeva became the first Indians to race in a national championship in seven months when they took part in the Thailand Swimming Championships in Bangkok last week. Srihari Nataraj, Sajan Prakash and Kushagra Rawat were the first to race after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, but in a club meet in Dubai.
The three Indians figured in as many as 20 events in the meet held at the Assumption University Pool in the Suvarnabhumi Campus in Bangkok. Apparently, according to the competition rules, since they were not representing any local club, overseas swimmers representing their countries did not qualify for podium finishes.
“I preferred swimming in India colours than represent my club,” Chahat Arora said. “I was in search of the fastest breaststroke swims by an Indian and I am glad I could achieve that goal. I will now focus on getting faster by improving my start and making the technical corrections necessary.”
Though Chahat Arora’s times of 33,70 seconds and 1:14.42 qualify as Best Indian Performances in the 50m and 100m breaststroke events, it remains to be seen if the Swimming Federation of India recognises these as such. The previous best by Indians in these events were registered by AV Jayaveena (33.76 seconds) and Saloni Dalal (1:14.87) respectively.
Truth to tell, they have been training under the eyes of Miguel Angel Lopez Alvarado, who is Head Coach at the FINA Training Centre in the Thanyapura Sports Club in Phuket, Thailand. “My plan was to spend two months in Thanyapura but the travel restrictions following the outbreak of Covid-19 meant that I have spent eight months here,” Chahat Arora said.
“I can now say it has been a blessing in disguise since I have been able to clock my personal bests and the best times by an Indian woman in the 50m and 100m breaststroke,” she said, thanking her parents, Geeta and Param Arora, for their support. “With not much support from Government or corporates, I am fortunate that my parents have always backed me.”
The Chandigarh-based swimmer is aware that she is some distance away from making a mark at the Asian level. “If I can improve my start and keep working on my technique, I know I can lower my best time in the 50m event to around 32 seconds,” she says. A 32-second race would have placed her outside the Asian Games final in Jakarta two year ago.
Yet, as someone who spent much of 2018 recovering from injuries to both her shoulders, she is pleased that she is marking improvement in times. From having 35.71 seconds as her best time in the 50m in 2016 to the 33.70 in Bangkok last week, it has been a good journey for her, with a South Asian Games 2019 gold medal being a memorable milestone.
“It became memorable since I beat AV Jayaveena to win the 50m breaststroke gold for India. Over the last eight years or so, I have loved competing with her. We have pushed one another to get better. I draw energy from her and I like racing with her,” Chahat Arora said when assessing her key rivals in the Indian circuit.
The times in the Thailand Swimming Championships 2020 (Indians only):
Chahat Arora (Open category): 33.70 seconds (50m breaststroke), 1:14.42 (100m breaststroke) and 2:48.89 (200m breaststroke).
Annie Jain (Group 1): 27.89 seconds (50m Freestyle); 1:00.08 (100m Freestyle); 5:15.61 (400m breaststroke); 35.23 seconds (50m breaststroke); 1:16.02 (100m breaststroke); 2:45.53 (200m breaststroke); and 2:28.59 (200m individual medley).
Bhavya Sachdeva (Group 2): 29.63 seconds (50m freestyle); 1:04.34 (100m freestyle); 2:18.63 (200m freestyle); 4:49.24 (400m freestyle); 9:33.34 (800m freestyle); 18:28.74 (1500m freestyle); 32.97 seconds (50m butterfly); 1:15.10 (100m butterfly); 2:45.89 (200m individual medley); 5:41.79 (400m individual medley).
