Focused and obsessively organised, 18-year-old swimmer Srihari Nataraj is making a splash

It’d been less than a week since Srihari Nataraj returned from his first Commonwealth Games. His first major multi-sport competition. The first time he represented India at a big stage. His first visit to Australia. And, Srihari’s still in his teens. So, as I met him at the Ramakrishna Hegde Swimming Pool – his training spot in Bengaluru, I expected a five-minute (at least) description of his first time experience at a quadrennial sporting event in a place that he’d never been to. Perhaps about the nerves he felt, the goosebumps he got, or an interesting conversation he had with another athlete.

But all I got was this: “It was a good experience, nice pool, nice city.”

He says this, seated relaxed on a steel cushion chair in his long-time coach AC Jairaj’s room. He’s wearing a thick blue sweatshirt and a dark coloured gym pants. A bright blue pair of headphones surround his neck. When not swimming, he mostly puts them on and listens to the 700-plus songs of various genres on his playlist in no particular order. “Does it help you focus?” I ask. “No. It’s just…” he trails off. He isn’t sure.

The coach sits right across the table, listening to our conversation. Srihari, as he speaks, is trying to move the oscillating pedestal fan so I, too, get its breeze.

I wait a little more to see if he’d continue about his Gold Coast sojourn, where he bettered two national records, qualified for the semi-finals in two of the three events he participated in, and was in the reserves for the final of 50m backstroke final.

Maybe the results were expected for him. Or, maybe, Srihari doesn’t like to talk much.

There are others, however, who talk about him.

His seniors, Sajan Prakash and Virdhawal Khade, who went with him to Gold Coast, rate him highly. Both agree that he’s a great talent.

“But when it comes to succeed in swimming, talent alone is not enough,” says Sajan, “You need to be focused too. And, he’s (Srihari) very focused. Indian swimming can’t be compared to the international standard. It will take a lot of years to get to that level. And, we need swimmers like Srihari to get there.”

Virdhawal (28), too, was a teen prodigy like Srihari. At 16, he became the youngest Indian swimmer to qualify for the Olympics (Beijing, 2008). At 18, he won the 50m butterfly bronze medal at the Asian Games. But injuries and work pressure hampered his swimming career and he struggled at Gold Coast to better his best times in the events he participated. Maybe that’s why he says, “we need to protect him,” like he’s part of a rare species.

To find an Indian swimmer with the potential to challenge his/her international compatriot, however, is tough indeed. Sandeep Sejwal’s bronze in the 50m breastroke event in the 2014 Asian Games and Virdhawal’s bronze in the previous edition in 50m butterfly are the only medals that Indian swimmers have won at major multi-sport meets in this decade.

But Srihari’s recent performances promise to ameliorate this medal drought. Last year, when he was 17, he won all the backstroke events at the Senior Nationals in record times and was adjudged the best swimmer, beating the likes of Virdhawal and Sajan. This February, at the Khelo India Games, he bettered the 100m backstroke record again whilst winning six golds and a silver medal.

Focus, according to coach Jairaj, is an important aspect of Srihari’s early success.

“He’s so focused all the time,” he says from across the table. “Even when he was a kid, he never liked when other kids used to chat in the pool when he was training.”

How it all started

Outside Jairaj’s room, there are kids – about 30 of them – scattered in an Olympic-size pool, lazily swimming from one end to the other, covering the pool’s 25 metre width. The water gleams here and there with the reflection of the mild evening sunlight. A few kids are on the sides of the pools, chatting. The instructors don’t mind because it’s just a summer camp, where they are having fun.

About 15 summers ago, Srihari’s mom had taken him to one of these summer camps to enrol his elder brother.

“I was a naughty child then,” Srihari says. “I wouldn’t sit at one place. I was fighting with the other kids or up to something else. So, my mom decided to put me also in the kids pool. I’d swim for about 20 minutes or so and then get tired.”

His brother, who used to compete at the national level, is now in Singapore, studying. And, Srihari now spends a lot more than 20 minutes in the pool every day. He trains in the pool for two and a half hours in the morning and works out in the gym for an hour and a half. Evening, he swims for about three hours. When he’s out of water, he also has to catch up on the lessons he missed at school.

“If you want to do competitive swimming in a country like India, you have to choose between two things [studies and swimming]. It’s hard to manage both,” he says.

“I haven’t been able to find out anything that I like. Not that much,” he replies when asked about his favourite subjects. “When I used to study physics in school, I used to like the theories. But maths is the pain.”

So academics aren’t an obsession, then; it’s the waters. Or is it the victories? Do wins and losses matte at all to him?

Before Srihari can answer, coach Jairaj interjects. “He always wants to win,” he smiles.

“Yeah, I am very competitive,” Srihari agrees. “Even in school level games, I always go all out.” Until a few years back, he used to check on his competitors after every stroke during races. It slowed him down. Desperation can be dangerous, he realised. So, he tries hard not to look at others anymore. “Sometimes, as I get closer to the (finish) line, I still look.”

Like most professional athletes do, he mentions the word “process”. Perfection in process doesn’t guarantee glory but without it, victories won’t come. So, he’s meticulous about his process. Even admits to having a mild OCD when it comes to it. Before a race, for instance, everything – from the race suit to the cap – has to be in order, as per plan.

“When things are organised and perfect, you know what’s happening, what’s going on. When everything’s messy, you also get tangled and messed up. I like it that way because it’s just easier,” he says.

This he learnt through experience. In Goa, when he was 12, his race cap tore and didn’t have a spare. In Bhopal, a few years later, he sat at a spot with sharp edges that made a tiny tear in his suit. On both occasions, his races were affected. So, he’s careful about carrying a spare and wrapping himself with a towel if the surface of the seat is sharp.

“These things affect you physically and mentally,” he says. “Physically, if you don’t have a cap, then it affects your race. Mentally, you keep thinking about it, so you lose focus. So, two days before the race, I make sure everything is okay. So, if something goes wrong I know what to do.”

Working towards bigger goals

Whatever’s hindering his swim, he tries to eliminate them. Whatever’s improving it, he tries to develop. The 90-minute drill in the gym every morning, for instance, is to enhance his core body strength, which his coach says must be improved for Srihari to reach his full potential. Then there are those little acts of superstition – wearing a black cap for 200m backstroke races, a white one for 100m backstroke and a tighter white one for 50m backstroke – that give him a good feeling before a race.

“Eighteen to 24… maybe 26,” replies Jairaj when asked about a swimmer’s best years. “But this fellow, he can go a little further because of his dedication.”

Srihari’s idol, Michael Phelps, won five golds and a silver in the 2016 Olympics at 30. He wants to emulate Phelps in 2024 Olympics in Paris by winning multiple Olympic medals. But that’s still a distant dream. For now, Srihari and Jairaj are working towards a medal at the Asian Games.

There’s only little daylight left. The kids in the pool are done with their session. There’s a little chatter as they leave. In some time, silence will take over and it will be punctuated with splashes of water by the kid who never liked talking in the pool.