My aim is to hold the 50m freestyle record just like Virdhawal, says Rutuja Khade
After splashing their way to becoming the fastest swimming couple of the country, the husband-wife duo of Virdhawal and Rujuta Khade’s next goal is to be national record holders of the 50m freestyle event. While Virdhawal already holds the national record, he wants to see Rujuta emulate his feat.
Last week, at the nationals in Bhopal, the duo won the 50m freestyle event in the men’s and women’s categories respectively to make them the fastest swimming couple in India. While Virdhawal, the country’s fastest swimmer, broke the meet record in the 50m freestyle, the next day Rujuta followed her husband’s footsteps to take home the gold in the women’s event.
“The nationals was a great experience. This is the best that I have ever felt but I think the big stage got to me. I was also aiming to get the national record. Veer already has it. It’s something we have talked about and want to achieve as a couple. It will be great if I could also have one. Unfortunately, that did not happen,” Rutuja told PTI.
Virdhawal admitted that he was a nervous, yet proud husband watching his wife, Rujuta, who was competing after a four-year hiatus.
“More than my performance I was happy about Rujuta going on to win a medal in this nationals. It’s a matter of great pride for me. I was really stressed out when she was racing because she hasn’t raced since 2015. It was nervous excitement and when she won it was one of the best feelings that I have ever had,” Virdhawal said.
After facing setbacks in their career, the two are now ticking off couple goals one by one in the pool, with qualifications secured for the Asian Age Group Swimming Championships to be held in Bengaluru from September 24. While Virdhawal - who is now is focussing on making the A cut for the Tokyo Olympics - has a comeback story that is well documented, Rujuta also has her own tale to tell.
“2015 nationals in Rajkot was the last time I swam competitively. After that, I had to take my graduation exams and then my coach passed away. I was to compete in the Youth Olympics but was not selected due to internal politics and then I just didn’t feel like swimming anymore. My love for food led me to pursue a culinary course.” Rujuta said.
“I went back to swimming to get fit and mainly because I had nothing to do in the evenings. Once I was swimming Veer started motivating me because I was doing well. But he never forced me to get back to competitions. It was around March this year that I decided I was ready and wanted to participate in competitions,” she added.
It was during the 2015 season that the two swimmers met, and soon after, they started dating and the duo ended up tying the knot in 2017. For now, the pair is enjoying its time together in the pool as part of Maharashtra’s quartet that won the mixed 4x50m Freestyle event at the nationals.
“It was amazing to be swimming together. We hadn’t done that before. I loved swimming with him,” Rujuta added.
