Virdhawal Khade: 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.