Virdhawal Khade @ 2008 Zoggs Queensland Sprint Championships

Virdhawal Khade (Veer) took part in his first competition in Australia - 2008 Zoggs Queensland Sprint Championships - last weekend (9/02/2008 to 10/02/2008). This meet consisted of only 50m events of all the strokes for the following age-groups:9yrs, 10yrs, 11yrs, 12yrs, 13yrs, 14yrs, 15yrs, 16yrs, 17/18yrs & Open

This is one of the many preparatory weekend meets he will be swimming. He represented India in this meet.

On Day 1, Veer won a gold in the 50m Butterfly (16yrs) with a time of 25.75sec.

On Day 2, Veer continued to show good form winning two bronze medals. This is taking into consideration that he had to race eight times (as each Open event has Prelims, Semi-finals and Finals and Age-group event has Prelims and Finals).

Veer's first bronze medal came in the 50m Butterfly (Open) with a time of 25.83 and his second bronze medal came in the 50m Freestyle (16yrs) with a time of 24.08. Veer finished 5th in finals of the 50m Freestyle (Open).

Overall the meet was great for Veer and his times are excellent considering that he is in the middle of hard training.

Click here for the full results.

Click here for the photos of the meet.

Virdhawal training in Australia

Virdhawal Khade is currently in Australia on a three month training stint at The Southport School, Queensland in preparation for an important year ahead – which includes the Beijing Olympic Games (in August), FINA World Youth Swimming Championships (at Monterrey, Mexico in July) and last but not the least Commonwealth Youth Games (at Pune in October).

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports through the National Sports Development Fund has funded Veer’s training.

The British Swimming Team has chosen The Southport School as their offshore training center and they are currently grooming the best of their age-group swimmers for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Veer currently has a great combination going for him i.e. good facilities, fast swimmers to train with and his coach, Nihar Ameen, by his side. Nihar’s presence is going to be a huge comfort factor for Veer as it is his first training stint abroad.

While in Australia, Veer will compete in three big meets – 2008 Telstra Australian Swimming Championships (at Sydney in the end of March; this meet is also the Australian Olympic trials), 2008 Australian Age Championships (at Brisbane in the beginning of April) and 2008 Telstra Grand Prix 1 (at Canberra in the end of April) – along with many local weekend competitions that will serve as good opportunities to get up and race. The first and the third meet are designated Olympic qualifying meets and Veer is looking forward to qualifying in more events - the 50m and 100m Freestyle Olympic qualifying times (B-Qualifying time) are well within his reach.

Go Veer Go!!

Wrap of 2007

Virdhawal Khade ("Veer") is one of the country's most exciting young sportspersons. In 2007, at the age of 15, he qualified for the Beijing Olympic Games in the 200m Freestyle and in the process became the youngest-ever Indian swimmer to qualify for the Olympics. He is thus far the only Indian swimmer to have guaranteed himself a trip to Beijing.

In early 2007, Veer ruled the pool at the Guwahati National Games winning six individual gold medals with five new records. He holds the National Record in the 100 and 200m Freestyle with a time of 51.41sec and 1:52.41sec respectively. He is amongst the fastest in the world for his age and has been nominated by the national press as one of India's top sporting prospects.

Veer ended 2007 with a fitness training stint in South Africa, courtesy the Mittal Champions Trust, and will soon embark on a couple of 3-month sojourns in Australia and USA for international training and competition, courtesy the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. His target-meets for 2008 include the FINA World Youth Swimming Championships at Monterrey, Mexico in July and the Commonwealth Youth Games at Pune in October where we are confident he will do the country proud. The Beijing Olympic Games in August will give him a platform to pit his skills against the best senior swimmers in the world.

Veer is currently funded by the Mittal Champions Trust and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

Go Veer Go!