Date:02/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/02/stories/2008080261212200.htm

Sport - Swimming

Swimmers in buoyant mood

BANGALORE: It was time for camaraderie as the swimmers attended yet another felicitation function on the eve of their departure to Beijing.

The trio, Virdhwal Khade, Sandeep Sejwal and Rehan Poncha were feted by Speedo here and Speedo’s latest swim kit, Laser, was presented to them. “It is the same type of suit which is being used by the American ace swimmer, Michael Phelps and we are honoured to present this to our swimmers and wish them the very best at the Olympics,” said Vinayak Dhawan, the Business Head of Speedo here.

The swimmers were excited about the task ahead. “As I said earlier, we are hoping for a semifinal spot by Khade in the 50m freestyle,” said his coach Nihar Ameen.

Rehan Poncha, once again reaffirmed his desire to better his time in the 200m butterfly in which he had qualified. “Though I swim lot of other strokes, I have qualified only in butterfly and I have trained hard for it. It will be great if I go under 2:01. Realistically speaking 2:00 dead could be the time to make the semifinals. Let’s see how it goes,” said Poncha.