Forced to take first break in a decade, swimmer Srihari Nataraj remains optimistic

It's the longest that Srihari Nataraj has been away from the pool in a decade long career and the national record-holding swimmer says he has finally found a few ways to kill the boredom that has come with the coronavirus-forced lockdown.

In a bid to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed over 82,000 worldwide, countries, including India, have gone into lockdowns and all sports events have been halted across the globe.

"I don't have a pool at home so I've not been in the water for three weeks or so. In the past 10 years this is longest I have been out of the pool. It is my first break in 10 years" Srihari told PTI from Bengaluru.

Srihari achieved the 'B' qualification mark for Olympics last year in the 100m backstroke event, clocking a national record 54.69sec in the semi-finals of the World Junior Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

However, to be sure of an Olympic place, Srihari must achieve the 'A' qualification mark of 53.85sec.

The 19-year-old, whose schedule is usually packed with travelling for meets and events in and out of the country, has turned to home workouts, like several other athletes, to remain physically fit.

"The first few days were pretty hard."
"I'm not used to not training. I started working out at home to try and keep myself as fit as I can. I've managed to find some other things to do so now the boredom is manageable."
"Even though I'm not training right now, I know what I do now can make a difference to my performance when I get back to the pool. So I'm concentrating on that."
"I've been watching a lot of series and movies, reading books. Also sleeping a lot, giving my body the rest it needs."
"I am going to get back to it slowly. I'll build my workouts. I will start the intense workouts after two and a half-three weeks of resumption. It all depends on how long I stay off swimming."
"I had planned meets every month but don't know what the situation will be like."
"I was looking forward to be a part of it this year. Little disappointed that the decision had to be taken. (But) the Olympics being postponed was the best thing that could have happened given these circumstances."
"My goals will still remain the same. They are based on time periods like end of June or mid of next year etc, rather than on specific meets."