Masters meet
“You have to be over 30 to take part.
You need to have proof of age. You can take part only in 4 events and two
relays.”
It is only when you reach there that you
realize that a true sportsperson never quits.
There was a man with one leg. He was
planning to dive and swim. He got a silver in diving and a bronze in freestyle.
(Apparently he also swam across the Palk Strait.)
There was a one armed man , and three
ladies with post polio paralysis. One of them laughingly told
me “I have one polio leg, and then last year I lost my balance so I
have one polio leg and one with a pin in it.”
Mr M at 89 was the oldest participant.
He went up to the organizers and said “Look, I cannot do my events back
to back. I will do two today and two tomorrow.”
“Sir,” said the official very politely,
“You tell me when you are ready, and we will conduct your events.”
They gave him a dedicated lane and
timer. He was swimming in peace, doing 400 meters, when a plump
young woman came and shouted at the official, “where is he?”
“Who madam?”
“Mr. M my father –in-law. I just went to
have a bath and he disappeared from the house. He had a heart attack 2 months
ago.”
She suddenly spotted him. She ran
alongside the lane shouting “Hey, get out of the water now! What will I tell my
husband?”
Mr.M was made of sterner stuff. “I will
die swimming ! You go home!”
Frustrated, she sat on the stands
nervously twisting her saree pallu.
He did not get out of the water even
after his race was over.
Mrs. D went up to the official. “I want
a spot entry for diving from the three meter spring board. There is no
one in my category “ Actually there were only three women divers in all the
categories. Women apparently just did not dive!
She climbed up, reached the end of the
board and looked down at the official. “ It is very high up!”
“Yes” he replied, “don’t you know to
dive?”
“Well,” she replied, ”I dive started for
my race. Tell me what to do.”
He said, “put your hands over your head
and bend down. Now jump.”
“I’m scared, push me.”
The next contestant went up and pushed
her. Arms flailing she belly flopped into the pool. She emerged with tears in
her eyes. “Do I get the gold?”
“Yes madam “ said the official, “but you
are barred from any other diving events.”
G had been a state swimmer in her
hey days. Older but still fast she held all the state records in her age group.
Of late she had developed a penchant for consuming energy gels. They made her
jittery and twitchy. This time though she seemed a lot calmer.
“Are you off the gels?” I asked
“Yes , but I drink 300 ml of strong
black coffee a half hour before event.”
By the time her event was announced she
was a jittery mass of nerves. She managed to get the gold, but only just! Then
she moved off to the side and stood breathing deeply, “what are you doing?” I
asked.
“I am concentrating cosmic energy
to the top of my head.”
A novice swimmer decided to attempt 50
meters butterfly. In the middle of lane 3 she floundered, gasped and grabbed
the lane dividing rope. The life guard
left in. Panic stricken she caught him in a choke hold. The next lifeguard
jumped in. She pushed away the air filled tubes. A third one jumped in. With
difficulty they managed to save her.
R told us to watch him doing the 800
freestyle (this was 16 laps) and signal when he did the turns about no of laps
and his position. He stated leading from lap 4., and came first by a
comfortable margin, witnessed by all of us.
When the results were announced, the
gold was awarded to a man who had not swum. R spearheaded a protest only
to be told, “He is a government coach. Unless he wins at least one medal his
job is in jeopardy.”
A sad reflection on the state of sports
in our country! Asian games, Olympics, drugging doping, we have to hang our
heads in shame!
My family did well, we had a grand
sweep, I won 5 golds and 1 silver medal, managed 3 state records, and my
daughter Kamini had a similar haul, 5 golds, one silver and a state record.
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