Champion swimming couple now guiding national youth team

South Asian Games gold-medallist swimmers Mahfuza Khatun Shila and Shajahan Ali Rony, now a married couple,  will guide the national swimming team at the international competition titled BIMSTEC Youth Water Sports Competition, which is scheduled to start from Feb 7 in New Delhi, India.

Shila and Rony are guiding 14 swimmers and divers picked from BKSP, Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Army in the four-day competition in which swimmers and divers from Thailand, Myanmar, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan are also vying.

Rony, who won the 50m breaststroke gold medal in 2006 SA Games in Colombo, and Shila, who won both 50m and 100m breaststroke gold medals in 2016 SA Games in Guwahati, got involved in coaching circuit after calling time in 2016 and 2022 respectively.

"We want to promote young coaches who have good swimming and educational backgrounds. As Shila and Rony have got involved in coaching after their playing career, we have given them an opportunity to come up to take the country's swimmers ahead," Bangladesh Swimming Federation's general secretary BM Saif told the Daily Star.

"Of course, it's a different feeling to coach national players, especially since both of us had represented the country in the past as swimmers," Rony told The Daily Star over phone from Delhi, adding that they are probably the country's lone coach spouse to represent the nation abroad.

"We both want to coach Bangladesh as long as possible and want to deliver laurels like what we did during our playing career," said Rony.

"We have been invited by the foreign ministry via the youth and sports ministry two months ago but we weren't sure about this competition happening. However, we informed the BKSP and service team swimmers to get ready. We were confirmed about the competition four to five days before our team departed for Delhi on Monday," said BSF general secretary Saif.

Rony admitted that they lack preparation but the swimmers will try their best in the competition.

"We would have had a better chance to do well had we taken proper preparation under the federation but in any case, this competition will help us judge the standard of this group of swimmers," said Rony.