Swimmers from Mumbai club train in Chennai as Khade looks on

Express News Service

CHENNAI: It’s early morning in Chennai’s SDAT swimming pool at Velachery, a well-developed residential area in the city. In the 50m Olympic-sized pool, one of the few Olympic-sized ones in the city, members of Khar Gymkhana, a big club in Mumbai, are training. In Maharashtra, there’s stringent lockdown will all pools shut due to the rising cases. However, in Tamil Nadu, it’s open for competitive swimmers. Observing the training session is the familiar face of Virdhawal Khade.  

Even as it led to some rumours that Khade was now actively coaching, he himself denied it. “No, no, I am not in Ch­e­nnai in any official capacity, I am just here because my wife (she is also a member of Khar Gymkhana) is here,” he tells this daily. It’s been four-five days since the group came down to Chennai and all permissions have been sought by the state government to continue their training. “We charge them a small amount plus GST for using our services,” an SDAT official says. “They have been either coming here or go to a pool in Chepauk. Whenever they want to use the 50m facility, they come to Velachery.” 

Even as India’s other elite Indian swimmers have gotten back to the pool to have a crack at making the ‘A’ time for the Tokyo Olympics, the 29-year-old has no such qualms. He hasn’t trained in the pool since last July and is relieved that he hasn’t gone back to the water since then. “To be honest, it’s fine that I haven’t trained full tilt in the water since July. I do my other normal on land exercises. But with this new lockdown, it would have been really frustrating to stop again had I been training on water.” 

The Maharashtrian, who will go back to Mumbai in a few days, also plays an active role in the state’s Covid-19 response, as he works in the welfare and special assistance department, under the Collector’s office. Interestingly, he says it’s been easier to work the last few months than in the first wave.