Father’s words worked wonders for Virdhawal Khade at Asian Games

Vikram Khade is a hard taskmaster. When his heartbroken son Virdhawal called him from Guangzhou on Monday after missing the bronze medal by a whisker, Khade senior offered no
words of comfort but ordered: Udhya gold pahije (win gold tomorrow).

Certainly, Virdhawal is no cry baby either. On Tuesday, he ensured that his father would walk around his hometown of Kolhapur a proud man.

Though Virdhawal didn’t clinch gold, he became the first Indian in 24 years to win a swimming medal at the Asian Games by wrapping the bronze in 50m butterfly with a time of 24.31 seconds. India’s last swimming medal at the Games was a silver, won by Khazan Singh way back in 1986.

Khade topped his heat by clocking 24.56sec, which was the fifth best timing among the eight who made the finals. The 19-year-old’s personal best is 24.25 seconds he managed at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune in 2008.

“When I called up my father yesterday evening, he was upset and angry that I missed the medal,” a beaming Khade told DNA by the poolside at Aoti Sports Centre’s Aquatics Hall. “Today, I couldn’t get the gold; you can’t get what you want but I am happy with my performance,” said Khade.

On Monday, Khade missed out on a medal in the 50m freestyle by just 0.03 seconds. Instead of sulking, the Maharashtra-boy took the setback on his chin and focused all his energies on avenging his defeat.

“I wanted to defeat the Japanese swimmer who beat me to the bronze on Monday and I am very happy I managed to do that,” he said. The Japanese swimmer Virdhawal talking about was Rammaru Harada, who finished way back in sixth position.

“I swim better under pressure. I was really hurt after losing out narrowly yesterday and it was the last meet of the season. I had to win a medal.”

The Kolhapur-lad is touted to be the best thing to have happened to Indian swimming and he has set his sights higher. “Winning at Olympics is the epitome of a swimmer’s career and if not 2012, I
am confident of winning a medal at 2016.”

Going back to his early days, Khade revealed he started swimming at the age of four and half, when he joined a vacation camp in Kolhapur and the age group competition started in 2000 when he was around 9-10. He hasn’t looked back since, bettering all the national records one by one.

He’s thrilled about his achievement but the lack of recognition and support for the swimmers back home in India can be demoralising, he admitted. “It’s a breakthrough in Indian swimming but it will depend on what sort of support I will get. Swimming doesn’t have the support like cricket. Financial security is important and if I make big money in swimming then I will continue because I need my family also,” Khade said.

All the serious talk can wait. As for now, it’s time to celebrate the feat. Surely, a grand welcome awaits Khade  in his hometown. “I have been out for a long time; will be going home to Kolhapur after almost a year. I am very happy.”