It is always a pleasure to see athletes undergo their daily training, with that look of determination upon their faces. The ephemeral blare of the whistle, the sight of a row of swimmers executing parabolic dives was what we were greeted with when we dropped into one of the swimming team’s practice sessions pre-BOSM.
We had a small chat with the senior coach of the boys’ team, Mr. Babulal Naik. He spoke about the plethora of events within every stroke with great enthusiasm. Besides the regular single races and four-member relays within freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly strokes, a couple of events truly test the grit, tenacity and technique of a swimmer. Going beyond the 50, 100 and 200m races, the freestyle stroke has long endurance races upto 1500m. The medley relay – an apt name for the event – requires each member of the relay team to swim one of the four strokes in his turn. ‘This year, we are very excited to introduce mixed relays. It’s a relay in which boys and girls participate together’, said Mr. Naik.
Mr. Naik has great confidence in his team. Their 6:00 AM practice consists of dry warm-up exercises followed up stroke-wise sprints to build stamina. In total, each member swims a total of 2 km daily. Being a sport which is highly energy-taxing, Mr. Naik insists everyone to follow a diet rich in carbohydrates and proteins, especially eggs. ‘We have many potential gold medal winners’, said Mr. Naik with pride.
However, during this hectic practice, the captain was nowhere to be found. When we later caught up with him in the evening, we learnt that his reason for missing practice speaks only of his dedication to his sport and not his apathy. Juggling academics and practice constrained him to only four hours of sleep daily, and it had taken its toll on him that very morning. Despite this, he seemed fit enough for a small conversation.
‘Passion, sincerity and dedication are three words that describe the spirit of our team’, said Harsh Sharma, captain of the swimming boys’ team. With an excellent timing of 28 seconds in 50m freestyle, he has won more than 10 medals in his two years at BITS Pilani. ‘This year was the first time in 14 years that we had competed in IIM Indore and we won the individual championship’, said Harsh. When asked about the new recruits of the team, he stated that they needed more practice to be competent in the years to come. However, he has faith in one Joy Parikh who could be a potential winner this BOSM. According to him, SRCC and IIT Delhi shall be fierce rivals this year.
His passion for the sport and enthusiasm to do well in academics are what motivate him to wake up early every day. Thus, we left him to a convalescent rest for the night and we urge the BITS junta to go to the swimming pool and support this hard-working team this BOSM.