Pinch yourself real hard — it’s true, India finally has a rare medal — a bronze from the swimming pool.
When Sandeep Sejwal won this bronze in the 50m breaststroke at the Munhak Park Taehwan Aquatics Centre here on Friday, the collective sigh of relief of a handful of Indian supports felt louder than the gold and silver cheers of Kazakhastani and Japanese fans. Sejwal, meanwhile, became only the fourth Indian to clinch a swimming medal in the Asian Games.
Sandeep had to make a lot of sacrifices for this medal. He even moved to Bangalore from Delhi eight years ago to work with his coach Nihar Ameen. “I have always wanted to win a medal in the Asian Games. It’s a dream come true. If I had not won the medal today, I would have felt the time I had spent in Bangalore was a waste,” 25-year-old Sejwal told reporters here.
Sejwal, drawn in lane 5, was leading till the 40m mark before he fell behind Kazakhstan’s Dmitry Balandin and Japan’s Yasuko Koseki to finish third in 28.26s, after having clocked a 28.25s in the semifinal heats to qualify for the finals.
The bronze won by Sejwal is only the fourth — after Sachin Nag’s gold in the men’s 100m freestyle in the inaugural Asian Games in Delhi (1951), Khazan Singh’s silver in the 200m butterfly in 1986 at Seoul and Virdhawal Khade’s bronze four years ago at Guangzhou in the 100m butterfly — medal in the core sport of swimming.
“Four years ago, Virdhawal won a bronze. Today, I have also won. I feel very proud. I have spoken to my mom after winning the bronze,” said Sejwal.
His coach Ameen said he was very happy that the only two medals fetched by India in swimming after 1986 have been won by his proteges — Khade and Sejwal. “We had focused on winning this medal over the last four years and worked very hard to achieve it,” said Ameen.
Sejwal, not happy with the time he returned in the finals, said he thought he could have won the gold or silver at the 40m mark, a point endorsed by Ameen who said his ward had a hiccup (in terms of a stroke), otherwise would have finished higher on the podium.
Sejwal dedicated the medal to his coach Ameen.