Entering Olympic final is a realistic goal, says swimmer Sejwal

Last year’s Commonwealth Games in Delhi was nothing, but a disastrous outing for the Indian swimmers. Big names like Virdhawal Khade, Sandeep Sejwal, Rehan Poncha failed to live up to the hype and flopped miserably. One year since the 2010 CWG, the Indian swimming team is looking like a positive bunch, and are gearing up for the forthcoming London Games next year. They have showcased some promising performances at the Asian Age Group Championship, the Singapore Open, the Hong Kong Swimming Championship this year and off-course Khade’s 2010 Asian Games bronze medal was an icing on the cake.

When Sportskeeda.com caught up with Delhi-born Sandeep Sejwal – the first Indian swimmer to make the qualifying cut for the London Olympics – says the CWG debacle is behind them and insists that a top eight finish at the Olympics next year is not a distant dream. The Indian duo comprising Khade and Sejwal, after having qualified for the London Olympics, will head to Australia in January for a three-month camp and will also compete at the Australian Swimming Championships in March.

Sejwal talks of India’s chances at the big games, and also his own performance since the ban on controversial LZR speedo bodysuits.

Excerpts from an interview:

Nandini: The 2010 CWG was a forgetful event for the swimmers. Hopefully the forthcoming Olympics is going to have some good performances?

Sandeep: Yes, we didn’t quite live up to the hype during the CWG. But one must note that swimmers from Australia and England have 20 years of international exposure, and have been competing at the World level where as our international exposure is very limited. However, I am quite optimistic that we will put up a good show at the London Games.

Nandini: For long, sports fanatics have wondered why India has not won a medal in swimming at any of the major competitions like the World Championship or the Olympics. How realistic do you think is a medal possibility at the London Games?

Sandeep: No doubt a semifinal finish or a place in the top eight at the Olympics is a huge feat. But at the same time it’s not that tough to do that either. It is a realistic goal because the timing of all top 16 swimmers is going to be very close. It would be just a matter of a few fractions.

Nandini: You come from Delhi, the same place as Khazan Singh. What sort of an impact has the legendary swimmer had in your life?

Sandeep: Having someone like Khazan Singh around always helps. His achievement in swimming is amazing. I mean, he is the only silver medallist at the Asian Games so yes, he has been a role model for me and he has been like family to me. I trained at his academy in Delhi and I really wanted to be like him.

Nandini: How much difference has the ban on bodysuits made in your timing?

Sandeep: All my best timing was clocked with the suit. I had timed 2:12.02 in 200 metres breaststroke and 1:00.97 in 100 breaststroke back in 2009. So, swimming with the bodysuits on makes a lot of difference. Now I’m working on covering up the gap in my timing, and I am close to swimming as fast as I was while wearing a bodysuit.

Nandini: Now that you have qualified for the Olympics, what’s your next big target?

Sandeep: I want to make the ‘A’ cut for the London Games. In 100m breaststroke, I had clocked 1:01.97 seconds in the Senior Nationals recently and the ‘A’ qualifying time is 1:00.79 and in 200m breaststroke, the ‘A’ qualifying mark is 02:11 seconds. Hopefully, training in Australia will help in reducing my timing.