Winning just the bronze in singles sculls at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon bothers Swarn Singh to this day. The gold medallist at the 2013 Asian Rowing Championships in Luan, China, had just been recovering from a back injury, and that had robbed him of some serious practice.
“There were tears in my eyes,” recalled Swarn, who is in rehabilitation at the Sri Ramachandra Arthroscopy & Sports Sciences Centre, in a chat with The Hindu .
Winning — and winning gold — is all Swarn thinks about. So, with some timely help from the rowing federation and the SAI, he was directed to the SRASSC here, to not only treat his back but get back to doing what he does best — rowing to gold.
“I started rowing when I got into the Sikh regiment,” he said. “Before that, I did not know anything about rowing.”
“In my first competition, I bagged a gold in the 2011 National Games in Jharkhand. I then joined the Indian camp where [coach Ismail] Baig saab took me under his wing.”
Since then, it has been a journey of improvement — from 17th in the 2011 World Championship to gold in the 2013 Asian Championships.
“I stick to the race plans my coach lays out for me, and that has been the reason for my success,” Swarn said.
“A few days before the 2014 Asian Games, I picked up an injury while practicing in Kodaikanal. Though at that time it did not bother me much, it later aggravated.”
“There was a time when I couldn’t sit straight or even bend. That’s when a 17-day stint in May-June at the SRASSC came to my rescue. And now I am working on muscle-strength, muscle-training, endurance and stamina.”
For eight to 10 weeks, he has been told, it will be just rehab. And to be race fit it will take time and patience, not to mention the will — which Swarn doesn’t lack.
“The country lost out on a sure chance for a medal,” was how Balaji Maradapa, Treasurer of the Rowing Federation of India, described Swarn’s unfortunate injury.
