For Sandeep Sejwal, the 27-year-old swimmer who recently clocked the 'B' qualification mark for Rio Olympics at the 59th Malaysia Open Swimming Championships, the journey to fulfill his dreams began in 2008.
He was the first Indian breaststroker to qualify for the Olympics when he swam 100m and 200m at the Beijing Olympic Games.
Since then, there has been no turning back for the swimmer from Delhi.
Serious about making his presence felt at the pool
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Sandeep has dominated the Indian swimming scene like none before. Not long ago, he had a splendid tournament in Malaysia where he bagged a bucketful of medals.
"I got three gold medals and broke three records. I was very happy when I stood at the podium with the national anthem playing because of me," said one of fastest breaststroke swimmers in Asia in an exclusive interview to Sportskeeda.
Although his timings were not as good as what he expected, he bagged medals in his first international event of the year.
The Bangalore-based swimmer, who started swimming to beat the heat in Delhi had his ups and downs but if you look back at his tough journey, it was worth the struggle.
Indian swimmers have never quite made a splash at the greatest sporting event in the world and it is not expected to be any different even in Rio.
"Our qualification period ends in July. It is still too early to answer this question. But I'm hopeful of booking a berth," added Sandeep, who is still fighting for a spot in Rio 2016.
3 golds – But who is counting?
It was quite evident from his tweet after his Malaysian Open triumph that we are not treating our heroes well. Here's his tweet:
Well, we simply cannot blame cricket and football for this. Instead, we are the ones to be blamed for this.
While this sport doesn't quite attract sponsors, GoSports Foundation has been helping Sandeep for quite some time. Be it monetary support or mentorship under Rahul Dravid, they have ensured the 2014 Asian Games bronze medalist gets everything needed to focus on swimming.
He said, "When all the big corporate houses are busy investing in other sports, GoSports Foundation is the only organization who is looking after the swimmers. I am glad that at least someone is there to look after swimming."
Sandeep is optimistic about the future of swimming in India though. "Swimming has a lot of growing up to do in terms of media attraction and sponsorship," he added.
"If a little help is provided to the swimmers by the corporate houses, I think the sport is going to change a lot quicker than ever," concluded the Arjuna Awardee.
Times are indeed changing and so is this sport in our country.
