IndusInd Bank today announced the creation of its nonbanking sports vertical, “IndusInd for Sports”. This move was announced as IndusInd Bank launched the Para Champions Programme- a first of its kind program exclusively for differently-abled sportspersons.
Fifteen emerging and elite Indian Para-athletes have been selected, through a comprehensive process. These athletes are currently training for the upcoming Paralympics which will take place in Rio, Brazil this year.
We spoke to Para-swimmer, Niranjan Mukundan who was crowned the Junior World Champion in 2015. The 21-year-old trains at the GoSports Foundation in Bangalore. He was born with a physical deformity called Spina Bifida- where there is an imperfect closing of the backbone and membranes around the spinal cord.
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Niranjan, did you always want to be an elite level athlete?
Initially, I took up swimming and water therapy only to recover. I didn’t know anything about Para-sports and I had no idea they had international tournaments for differently-abled athletes. But when I started swimming, I started loving the sport. That went forward and my coach spotted me and told me, let’s not stop here.
When did you realise you’re capable of competing at the highest level?
Once I started swimming, it took me three months to take part in a national level tournament. Whereas the other swimmers were taking one year, sometimes even more. Once I finished my first nationals, I won a silver medal there. That motivated me to do better in the next event and win gold. So I think (winning the silver) was a turning point in my sporting career.
Can you talk about your coaching team?
Currently, I am training in Thailand, which involves high-performance training. There are 20 athletes who were chosen by FINA (FINA is the international governing body of swimming, diving, water polo, synchronized swimming and open water swimming). So there are athletes from 13 different countries training in Thailand.
From India, there are three people and I am the only Para-swimmer who is training there. My coach and the team of experts are from Spain. My coach has produced seven Olympic and six Paralympic champions in his time.
But I have not been treated differently at all. When I come late, I have been sent back home. When I don’t finish my workout, I have been punished. That keeps me motivated and keeps me at par with the other-abled body swimmers.
I have been in Thailand for the past one month and will be there for the next four months as well. I have my Olympic qualifiers coming up after that. I am very confident about my qualification this year.
I have read that Michael Phelps consumes around 12,000 calories a day. What about you?
Yes, it differs from one athlete to another. The training in one country is entirely different in another country. On an average, we Indians and most of the swimmers at this level consume around 4000-5000 calories per day. We have an intense workout. There is a strict regime but we do have something called cheat meals.
Monthly, once or twice we’re allowed to cheat. When you’re competing at the Olympic level, the coach and the nutritionist expect you to have a certain level of discipline. When we eat junk food, the next day’s workout is so intense that we burn all the junk from the previous day.
What do you reckon about your chances at the Paralympics this year?
2014, when I took part in the junior games, I was able to win only eight medals out of the ten events. But then last year when I had the chance to again take part in those ten events, I managed to hit all of them and was crowned junior world champion.
I won seven gold medals. So obviously it is a great platform for me to showcase my skills. I have finished my juniors now. I’ve stepped into the seniors and I have been a bronze medalist at the Asian games as well. It’s time for me to show the people how good I am.
Yes, there is going to be a lot of pressure and lot of people are going to be expecting things from me. But then I am trying and training very hard. I hope I perform well.
How different is it for a differently-abled swimmer compared to an abled one when it comes to technique?
Nice question. We do have some barriers when you compare us to the abled body swimmers. But then what we try to do is substitute it with an alternative. If you’re not able to use your legs for instance, instead of using the leg power, we double our power in the upper body or shoulder. We compensate in this manner. We substitute the power to another body part and we race.
