Bengaluru,  KARNATAKA  :

Lack of proper scouting network has hurt the growth of swimming in India: Nihar Ameen

Nihar Ameen’s journey as a swimming coach began more out of compulsion than choice. The then 20-year-old Nihar had just one goal, to coach his sister Shanaz Shacoor when she was left floundering after being the youngest swimmer at the 1982 Asian Games.

“I was forced into it (being a coach) due to various reasons. I never thought it would turn out to so good,” says Nihar, recalling his early days.

“It was a short-term goal back then. There was my sister, 12-years-old when she competed at the Asian Games and she needed someone to train under. It was a learning curve,” he continues.

Thirty-four years have gone by since then. Nihar today is one of the respected and most sought-after swimming coaches in India. The 2015 Dronacharya awardee who has produced medal winners at the Asian Games level besides shaping the careers of many aspiring swimmers, Nihar has let his work speak for itself.

In a freewheeling interview with Deccan Herald, the 54-year-old coach discusses the upcoming Olympics, his two Asian Games medal-winning swimmers and the swimming scene in India. Excerpts:

Another Olympic Games is fast approaching and India’s swimmers are yet to clock the ‘A’ standard to assure themselves of a place at the Rio Games. How disappointing is it given that the qualification period ends on July 3?

I won’t say it’s disappointing because no Indian swimmer has ever made an ‘A’ standard. We’re still trying and hopefully we can clock the timings.

Normally — in our case — a male and a female swimmer, who have clocked the ‘B’ cut goes for the Games (based on the universality quota). And if there’s something to cherish this time it is the fact that we’ve had the most ‘B’ cuts ever. I see this as a sign of some kind of progress.  Unfortunately the qualifying time is moving so far ahead that it has become difficult. Like in 100M freestyle, the qualifying time (48.99 seconds) is so close to Alexander Popov’s world record time (48.29 seconds) set in 1994. It stood for close to six years. So it’s a mixture of all these factors that have hurt us.

India’s presence at the international stage is very minimal. Our swimmers have found it hard to match the international standard, what would you pin that on?

I think it (the problem) begins with talent identification. We don’t have a system where we go out and scout for swimming talent. Right now, the best coaches in the country only have accesses to those swimmers who come to them. With a population of over a billion, the number of registered swimmers is very less. If you consider countries like China, the US and Australia, they have a huge number of competitive swimmers. China has close to 700,000 swimmers, the US has close to that number too. Australia has close to 1,50,000 swimmers. Quite frankly, I believe, the more milk you have, more cream you’ll get on the top.

Funding is another big issue. The kids who come to us (coaches) have to pay for everything. And that’s a big amount. Another aspect is the mentality of the parents. Like for instance, by the time a young swimmer reaches the 10th grade, a eureka moment hits them and suddenly everything stops and academics takes centre stage. And once the kid is in college, sport takes a huge backward step.

And above all is the fact that disciplines like track and field and swimming, which are considered to be the mother sport for an Olympic nation, struggle for money.

If you look at other countries, the Olympic committee pays special emphasis on these events as they have maximum number of medals up for grabs. But in India, unfortunately, these are the disciplines that struggle for funds.

You have been into the sport of swimming for over three decades now. How much has the sport changed and evolved?

It’s a completely different scenario now. We are a cricket-mad nation because of which Olympic sport takes a back seat on many fronts. If you look at nations like the US and Australia, how people perceive sport is totally different than how we do in India. Here it’s still a leisure activity, while in the west, it’s a multi-billion dollar industry. But having said that, I can see the scenario changing. Especially in the metropolitan cities, parents are now aware of the role sport can play in the overall development of their kid. But it’s not a country-wide (phenomenon).

Two of India’s medal-winning swimmers at the Asian Games, Virdhawal Khade and Sandeep Sejwal, have trained under you. What made them different from other swimmers?

They were extremely talented and a lot had to do with the lack of parental interference. Up to a point their parents were very much involved in getting them into the right programme. But once they knew that their kids were in the right programme, there was this essence of trust, which is very much lacking today. It was their talent accompanied by complete trust from their parents.

Sandeep’s parents were in Delhi and Veerdhawal’s parents were in Kolhapur. They trusted me completely and I ensured that they went as far as they could and that relationship worked like magic.

Karnataka has been a dominant force in swimming in India. Winning the national championships and churning out quality swimmers seem like an every day activity. What has been the winning formula?

Two things, first, it’s the coaching. We have some of the best coaches in the country who have been producing a number of top swimmers for the past 2-3 decades. Secondly, the infrastructure is being used properly and the State association is one of the more functional ones in the whole country. It’s the combination of these that has paid off.

You were presented with the Dronacharya award in 2015. How much does the honour mean to you and the swimming community in India?

I think it should mean more to the swimming fraternity than to me. While I am thrilled that I got the award, it’s just the affirmation of the 35-36 years of labour that I have put in to make it work in our country and produce quality swimmers.

But I really hope that the powers in the sports ministry wake up and take a look at what swimming and that the sport gets some recognition from this award.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Supplements> Sportscene / by Naveen Peter / DHNS / May 29th, 2016