More motivated than ever for Asian Games: Sandeep Sejwal

He almost quit swimming due to boredom and stagnation but Asian Games-bound Sandeep Sejwal says he is now more motivated than ever after being driven back to the pool by a fear of regrets.

Sejwal claimed a bronze in the 50m breaststroke event of the 2014 Asian Games, making him just the ninth Indian ever to achieve the feat.

He called it quits last year after his timings became stagnant and started coaching young children instead.

"I did not swim for 8 months. I was getting bored of my performance; it was not improving, for almost 8 years I was stuck on a particular time. I thought I was done with swimming but (coach) Nihar (Ameen) sir convinced me to give it another shot," Sejwal told PTI in an interview.

"The only motivation I had was that I wanted to finish on a good note. I wanted to be satisfied with my performance, so instead of regretting it later in life I decided to give it another try. We changed my programme and it has worked very well so far," he added.

The 29-year-old says with age he has gained in experience and has worked on a few technical aspects, which could fetch him better results.

"A lot has changed in the past 4 years, because of my age I am focussing really hard on the recovery. Four years back I think my start was the weakest link but now I am doing well in that department," he said.

"I am right now only thinking up till the Asian Games depending on my performance there I will think about continuing or changing profession."
"I am not thinking about what other people are expecting. I'm just going to enjoy training. Not thinking about the expectations helps me keep calm and focus more on training."