One-hundredth of a second. That is all the time it took for India's Virdhawal Khade to miss out on a medal at the most recent Asian Games in Jakarta. To one watching the race, it would seem to be the moment things were put in perspective. Virdhawal Khade, having previously already known the joys of an Asiad medal, stayed in the pool for a little longer after the results were declared. Looking back at the moment, Virdhawal Khade has a few positives to take from it. "Reaching that level, where it's a matter of a few microseconds- that is an achievement in itself," he says to The Bridge. "The fact that I managed to give my best timing with just eight to nine months of training before the Asian Games- this is what I am trying to take from the entire incident." Image: PTI However, the challenges for 2019 also include an Olympic qualification. This will essentially be a comeback to the big stage for the prodigal swimmer who had missed out on the 2012 and 2016 Games since making his debut as a 16-year old in Beijing. Olympic qualifications start from the beginning of March while the FINA World Championships is scheduled to be held in July. Additionally, he will be participating in several preparatory competitions in Singapore to further improve his timings. "Taking part in a lot of races always helps and that is what I plan on doing," he says. So far, a lack of sponsorship and financial support have limited his training in Bangalore only. With his name not finding a mention in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme, most of the cost of training has been borne by him alone. In fact, not a single swimmer has found a mention in the Sports Ministry's flagship Target Olympic Podium Scheme since Sajan Prakash and Srihari Natraj leading up to the Asian Games, a scheme which aims at sustainable investment in an athlete's training to best groom them for an Olympic medal- a fact Virdhawal Khade describes as "unfortunate." Other major swimmers to have received government assistance over the years have been few and have included been Khade himself who received financial support under the National Sports Development Fund for two years between 2007 and 2009 and Swimmer Manna Patel who was financed under TOPS before Rio 2016. "Swimming, as a sport, has among the highest number of medals to offer at the Olympics. One athlete can compete for multiple medals and, as such, the return on investment is automatically higher," he says. "Investing in swimming is a risk worth taking" "Once the mindset changes, once the powers that be recognise this simple fact, we might have a better chance of performing better at a higher level. It would entail better, more updated training, greater participation- anything that would enable us to keep up." "Right now, it is important for me to at least start thinking about moving out of India to train and participate in a lot of competitions. When one is trying to qualify for the Olympics, or even thinking about winning medals on the big stage, one should not have to settle for an option just because it is financially convenient." "Heavy investment is needed when you are trying to feed an Olympic medal hope," he adds. "And swimming, as a sport, is worth going the little extra mile for because it has so much quantity in medals to offer in return." Swimming has, undoubtedly, come a long way in the country. Much more so in the recent past where the country's swimmers have been consistently breaking national records at various domestic and international levels. The boundaries are being pushed but is that enough to bring about a change? "Unfortunately, national records do not hold much weight to a general observer," he says. "Maybe the Government of India might think that National records are anyway meant to be broken in all events. Maybe a big international medal will bring the sport to attention- like maybe an Asiad or a Commonwealth Games medal."
"Heartbreaks like these exist in competitive sport," he adds. "It's best not to think about things not under your control. Missing out on a medal by that much motivated me to try harder, train better in the time before the Olympics."