Focusing on preparations, not competitors: Tokyo-bound Nataraj

Bengaluru, July 11 Ace India swimmer Srihari Nataraj said on Sunday that he was focusing on his preparations rather than worrying about how tough the competition would be at the Tokyo Olympics beginning July 23.

Nataraj had shattered the Tokyo Olympics qualification time in men's 100m backstroke during time trial at the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome last month, clocking 53.77 seconds, which was faster than the Olympic qualification time of 53.85 secs.

"The competition at the Tokyo Olympics will be tough, I am not thinking about it. But, I am preparing," the ace swimmer told .

Surprisingly, Nataraj, a backstroke specialist, says he does not enjoy the event much. "However, my best performance is in backstroke. So, I have started focusing on it since the age of 11 years," he says.

The 20-year-old Nataraj always wanted to take part in international swimming competitions from a very young age.

"The ambition to become a champion was always there. When I was 12, I was dreaming of participating in international competitions.

"I have been working with star coach Nihar Amin. I have worked with him since the age of 12. He has the experience of working with so many Olymp around the world. He has been coaching for over 40 years. He had coached all the star swimmers in India for the past 20 years and worked with the US team as well in the late 80s and 90s," Nataraj says with pride.

Talking about his preparations, Nataraj says, "The training is going well. I usually swim for two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening, for a total of nine sessions a week and I spend one-and-a-half hours in the gym every day. I am being trained at the Dolphin Aquatics centre in Bengaluru."

Recalling the time his mother first took him to a swimming pool as a baby, Nataraj says, "They (parents) simply put me into the water, so that I could spend some time doing something. I started at a very young age. I went to the pool every day. I was seeing swimming legends being trained. However, I didn't know who they were, I was still young. I realised it when I was 10 years old."

He is thankful to his school and college management for being supportive. "My school was very supportive. I got permission to skip classes and they gave me the notes," he says.

"The participation in the 2019 World Championships at Gwangju, South Korea was a good experience. It was my first world championship. I always wanted to go to Australia; the dream came true when I participated in the (2018) Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast. That was my first multi-sport game competition. I was only 17 years old when I went there," said Nataraj.

Nataraj is all praise for the Swimming Federation of India and the Sports Authority of India (SAI). "They are very supportive and have pooled in a lot of resources into the sport. The authorities have given lots of financial aid. They sent us to three major tournaments this time which is a big thing. It's the first time such a thing has happened and things are changing," he says.