Asian Aquatics C'ships: India impress but there's still a long way to go

The country not only hosted the continental championships for the first time ever but also recorded its best ever performance, winning 13 medals at the newly built facility by Myrtha Pools at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex.

Srihari Nataraj was the star of the show, winning seven medals – three silver, and four bronze. He was placed fourth in the standings for multi medallists, despite falling short of a gold medal.

Bhavya Sachdeva was the only Indian woman to finish on the podium, whereas Indiver Sairem and Wilson Sing Ningthoujam bagged the country’s first diving medal at the competition.

Veterans Sajan Prakash, Kushagra Rawat and youngsters like Rohit Benedicton, Rishabh Das and others also chipped with medals.

While the impressive medal haul helped India finish 11th in the overall medal tally with four silver and nine bronze, the fact remains that not all top swimmers from the continent were present in Ahmedabad.

Heavyweights South Korea, for example, skipped the meet altogether. Japan and China (except for world record holder Qin Haiyang) sent their junior squads.

“It is definitely a high level competition,” said Sajan Prakash. “I believe it was not in the calendar for elite swimming.

“The Chinese swimmers are focusing on the Chinese nationals which are coming up and they are in high level training programs. It is a high level swimming meet and they chose whatever team they want to send.

“All the Indian swimmers did a great job. They did their best effort and that has to be appreciated,” Sajan, who himself won two medals added.

In diving, the Indian women’s synchronized teams were formed just a week before the event, whereas the hosts did not have any representation in artistic swimming.

The water polo teams – both men and women – lost all the matches they played. The Indian men’s captain Ananthu cited lack of exposure for the same.

“We don’t have the exposure,” he said in a chat with The Bridge. “We are doing our best with what we have.

“We feel the difference between us and them is exposure. Japan, for example, plays three to four international matches a year. We play once every three years,” he added.

Despite the low level of competition, Indian athletes’ fighting spirit stood out. As did the newly built aquatics centre at the sports complex.

Japan’s swimming coach Kazuhiro Ooyanagi termed it “one of the best he has been to.”

“I’ve been to four or five competitions with the Japanese teams. This is one of the best venues I’ve seen and it is as good as any venue I’ve seen,” Ooyanagi said.

Singapore’s water polo captain Sanjiv Rajandra echoed the same sentiments.

“The venue is really good. It is very grand and I was pleasantly surprised. Great pool and a great place to play water polo,” he said.

As India eyes hosting rights for 2030 Commonwealth Games and 2036 Olympics, the 2025 Asian Aquatics Championships displayed that the nation has what it takes to host large scale sporting events but there is still a long way to go before they become a real threat on the field to sporting superpowers.