CWG 2018 | Iām much stronger now and itās never too late, says swimmer Virdhawal Khade
Indian swimmer and young Tehsildar Virdhawal Khade cannot wait to get his 2018 CWG campaign started as he claims to be stronger and sharper since his last CWG outing in 2010. After missing out on the 2012 Olympics, Khade took a brief hiatus from the sport to focus on his career as a Tehsildar.
At 26, Indian swimmer Virdhawal Khade has already had a few ups and downs in a short span of ten years as a professional athlete. The young swimmer created history back in 2010Ā when he became the first Indian to enter the final in the swimming event at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. He went on to win Indiaās first medal in swimming after a long gap of 24 years when he won the Bronze medal in the 50m Butterfly event at the 16th Asian Games.
After a brief hiatus away from the sport, Khade was hoping to get things back on track in the upcoming 2018 CWG in Gold Coast. Khade has entered menās 50m butterfly and freestyle and will begin his campaign on April 5.
"It was some unfinished business. In 2010, I got a 50m butterfly bronze at the Asian Games. And at that point, I had decided that I want something better than just one bronze. Ideally, it should have happened in 2014," Khade told ToI.Ā
"If I had kept training I would have won a silver or even a gold. But Iām much stronger now and itās not too late. By this August, I should be in a good shape to win a couple of medals at the Asiad."
Post the historic victory at the Asian games, Khade was surprisingly overlooked for the 2014 CWG in Glasgow as well as the 2016 Rio Olympics which made him shift focus from swimming to securing his future as a Tehsildar.
"What prompted me to leave swimming was that I was not selected for the 2012 Olympics. Four of us had made the āBā qualification mark, but the federation used the quota system and sent somebody else. That was a difficult phase for me.
"The same time, the opportunity from the Maharashtra government came through. It was a chance to secure my future against such uncertainties (of not getting selected in the Indian team)," added Khade.
The lad from Kolhapur was hoping to put up a strong display in the upcoming tournament that will put him up against the best swimmers from across the globe which will be a tough prospect.
"The problem with CWG is that the host nation gets three entries and Great Britain participates as six or seven different countries. So there are eight or nine from Britain itself, three from Australia and two from South Africa. The density of top swimmers is too high," Khade said.