Australia-backed para-swimming workshop launched in Delhi

A three-day para-swimming coaching workshop, supported by the Australian High Commission, was launched on Monday. To be held at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Swimming Complex, experts and coaches will exchange ideas on how Indian para-swimming can be improved and taken to the next level during the workshop.

The three-day workshop will also be held at the Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical Education (LNIPE) in Gwalior. Paralympic Committee of India president Devendra Jhajharia presented Australian High Commissioner Philip Green with a shawl during the inauguration ceremony.

Describing the initiative as his brainchild, Green said Australia was keen to share its expertise in para sports with India. “We are delighted to bring the expertise to India for the advancement of para swimming. Australia and India’s association has mostly been about cricket, but as India takes a natural leap towards hosting global sporting events, Australia wants to remain a partner,” Green said.

Manjushree Dayanand, Deputy Director General of the Sports Authority of India, welcomed the initiative. Former Olympian and coach Martin Roberts highlighted the technical complexity of para-swimming. “Para swimming is full of challenges because of the vast categories. It is difficult for coaches at times to be technically expert,” Roberts said.

“Our focus is adaptive coaching which simply is good coaching. This workshop is about working with para-athletes, understanding their limitations and then helping each one accordingly,” he added. Dr Virendra Kumar Dabas, Founder of Para Swimming in India, stressed the need to build a world-class ecosystem for the sport here. “The Indian para swimming ecosystem should become world class. For that, we need world-class coaches, international-level classifiers and technical officials. Australia will surely help us with that,” he said.