Countrywide swimmer search begins

Hundreds of enthusiastic swimmers yesterday turned up at the National Swimming Complex in Mipur to show off their potential on the opening day of a six-month talent hunt programme titled 'Bangladesh in search of the best swimmer'.

The programme, jointly organised by the Bangladesh Swimming Federation and the Bangladesh Navy, created quite a buzz and there was no shortage of enthusiasm among the participating swimmers, many of whom turned up on their own from different parts of Dhaka.

Mohammad Ridoy, a salesman from Bangla Motor, might be the best example of the participating swimmers' eagerness as he took a day off from the owner of his shop to turn up at the swimming complex with the necessary costumes, including swimming goggles that he bought with the small salary he earns.  Although the 16-year-old failed to impress the selection committee, his enthusiasm during the trial session was something to behold.

Like Ridoy, many swimmers from Nababganj, Keraniganj, Savar, Moghbazar, Mirpur, BKSP and other parts of Dhaka gathered to demonstrate their potential in the age group selection (11-20 years) of four categories for boys and girls. 32 swimmers, including nine from BKSP, have been selected by the selection committee.

Al Amin, a student of Kabi Nazrul Islam College who registered online, was ecstatic after being selected in the boys' 15-17 Group.

 “I expected to do better than what I have done [sixth position]. I believe I can achieve better timing if I am given good training,” said Al Amin, a student of class XII.

The talent hunt programme perhaps captured a lot of attention following the success of Mahfuza Khatun Shila, a Bangladesh Navy swimmer who won double-gold in the South Asian Games in India in February.

Bangladesh's South Korean swimming coach and selector for this programme Park Tae Gun was excited to see the passion of the participants.

“If Korea can produce Olympic gold winners in swimming from 5 crore people, then why can't Bangladesh produce such swimmers from 17 crore people. Korea provided a five-year-long training to some 100 swimmers and one of them won gold in the 2008 Olympic Games. There may be a hidden diamond in some part of Bangladesh and if we can provide them proper training, they can bring gold medals from international meets,” said Gun, who has also selected 16 potential swimmers on the sidelines of the first batch of 32.

The talent hunt programme will be conducted in all the 64 districts and a final selection of 60 swimmers will be provided long-term training.

 “You cannot judge the potential on the basis of first, second and third in the competition because there is something more to watch and I have picked up fully raw talent considering their potential in the future,” opined the Korean coach who played a big role in Shila's success.

However, the organisers from different pockets of Dhaka said that it was a very good initiative but expressed their opposition to the inclusion of BKSP students who are already trained swimmers.

BKSP coach Mosharraf Hossain also echoed the sentiment and advocated for a school-based talent hunt programme.

“Definitely, it is a big and good initiative but it could have been more systematic and scientific and involved school students,” Mosharraf observed.