On the eve of the Commonwealth Games, India's champion swimmer Rehan Poncha tells Harish Kotian he's getting better with each swim.
Karnataka swimmer Aaron Agnel D'Souza on Sunday bettered his personal national record in the 100m freestyle event in the 65th Senior National Aquatics Championships which drew to a close in Ranchi on Sunday.
Rehan Poncha helped Karnataka to retain the top position with 18 gold medals on the penultimate day of the 65th Senior National Aquatic Championship by winning his fifth gold.
Indian swimmers made a big splash at the seventh Asian age-group championships, clinching eight medals, including three gold, on the first day of the event at Jakarta.
Rehan Poncha and Arjun Murlidharan failed to qualify for the finals in their respective categories at the Asian Games.
Indian swimmers sank three meet records on the way to winning seven of the eight gold medals on offer at the 10th South Asian Games.
The Karnataka swimmer bettered his own national record in the 200m butterfly stroke at the Jr Nat aquatics championships.
India swept the men's swimming gold medals for the second day running at the SAF Games.
Ambica Iyenger also finished a poor 52nd in a field of 65 swimmers.
Rehan Poncha picked his third individual gold in the National Junior aquatic championships.
The 16-year-old Karnataka swimmer, who returned from Perth last week, set a new 200 metres individual medley mark in the National aquatic championships.
None of the Indian swimmers managed to qualify for the finals of their respective events at the Asian Games.
However, his effort at the World swimming championships was not enough to earn him a berth in the Athens Olympics.
Among others, Rehan Poncha, 16, disappointed with a miserable performance. He finished 50th in the 400-m freestyle event.
While praising the Indian men hockey team's progress under the guidance of coach Roelant Oltmans, former international Viren Rasquinha did not hold out a realistic chance for the country to climb the medals podium at the upcoming Rio Olympics.
After beating adversity to become a champion swimmer, Rehan Poncha now wants to make it big in golf and he hopes to play amateur qualifiers from next year before turning professional.
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