TWO swimmers from Jain College, VV Puram, were chosen to represent the country at Olympics/Paralympics 2012 in London recently.
Sharath Gayakwad, 21, studying third year Arts with an
under-developed left hand, participated in the Paralympics. Gagan
Ullalmath A P, 20, first year MBA Masters of Business Administration
student, was the other.
Despite the shortcoming Sharath asserts that nothing stopped him from succeeding in life.
No matter what the challenge was, Sharath faced every challenge with a smile and when
he fell, he got up and walked with his head high, aiming for success.
Sharath has been swimming since the age of nine and is coached by John Christopher from Bangalore.
For 25 days, he was blessed to be in the presence of many other swimmers from different countries and celebri
ty sportsmen.
“I was always treated equally by my schoolmates that have been one of the roles which uplifted my confidence,” Sharath said.
During his competition in London, he participated in the 100m butterfly (9th position), 100m breast-stroke (12th position), 50m freestyle (12thposition) and 200m individual medley (14thPosition).
Sharath was given this opportunity for the first time and he
grabbed it with both hands. He said his biggest and boldest achievement
so far had been the Paralympics.
In the case of Gagan Ullalmath, “It was amazing rubbing shoulders with the top athletics of the world and you learn a lot.”
He is overjoyed that he was the only person representing his college in the 2012 London Olympics.
He stated that his parents Sandhya (mom), Swami (dad) and sisters
Kavya and Tejasvini are the backbone throughout his sports performance
in school.
“I participated in the 1500 freestyle swim, and came out 31st completing in 16 minutes and 31 seconds,” Gagan said.
Representing 1.2 billion people of India “is the biggest achievement in his life,” he said.
Not just two students were fortunate to leave India for sometime,
also second year B com student Khalin Joshi, 20, from Bangalore has been
playing golf since the age of four left for Turkey on September 28.
He is competing against other countries in a golf tournament along
with Chikka Rangappa from Bangalore and Angad Cheema from Chandigarh in
Turkey.
The heavy golf club never stopped Khalin from knocking that ball into the hole when he would go with his uncle to the golf course.
Khalin has competed in nearly 40 international games around the world.
“I feel honoured playing golf for our country and my back bone are
my parents and support of the college management,” Khalin said.
He said that the greatest achievement for India was when the nation’s team won the Bronze – Numora Cup in Fiji after 18 years.
Khalin stated that his parents were proud of his achievements and
continued to support him through the challenges he faced in life.
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