District swimmers treading in shallow waters

The Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Army dominated the recent national swimming championships, securing all 42 gold medals and leaving district and club teams, apart from BKSP and the Bangladesh Air Force, without any podium finishes.

For years, the swimming pool in the national championships has been ruled by service teams like the Navy, Army, Air Force, and Bangladesh Ansar. Occasionally, district and club teams have made it onto the medal table, hinting at swimming talent beyond these better-resourced teams. However, a shortage of facilities and training opportunities restricts their potential.

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Sports bodies reeling from the changeover

Unlike previous editions, only four teams out of nearly 50 participating teams -- Navy, Army, BKSP, and Air Force -- shared all medals in the 33rd national swimming championships, raising fears of swimming fading out at the district level.

"Usually, district and club teams struggle to compete against swimmers from service teams who are given round-the-year training facilities," said Bangladesh Swimming Federation (BSF) treasurer Rezaul Hossain Badsha, who also took care of four Pabna swimmers in the just-concluded championships.

"Besides, there are no DSA [District Sports Association] committees in many districts, while some ad hoc committees have been formed in others, so there has been no training at the district level. Most districts participated in the championships without financial help from the DSA," said Badsha, who brought four Pabna swimmers to the championship at his own expense.

"To be honest, sports at the district level remain stuck, and it is also challenging for both district sports associations and clubs to conduct swimming," said Badsha.

Echoing Badsha's views, Jotindra Nath Biswas, a coach from Bagerhat, noted that his district currently lacks a functioning sports association committee, which has led to a next-to-nothing preparation for the championships.

"I brought four swimmers to the championship at my own cost, and two of them met the set time. They have therefore been given the promised facilities by the federation, but the other two were covered by me," said Jotindra, adding that the federation should provide financial support to clubs to develop swimmers at the grassroots level to prevent extinction.

Nazim Uddin, general secretary of Jhenaidah Swimming Club, highlighted the unique challenges faced by district-level athletes. Unlike their service team counterparts, district swimmers often train in ponds or rivers and lack access to proper diet and fitness resources.

Asked why district and club teams participated only nominally in the national championships, Nazim said, "You can't hold the national championships with only four or five services teams. Besides, the districts and clubs are invited by the federation to participate. There is also the question of councillorship in the federation."

Former national swimmer Karar Samidul Islam noted that swimmers at the district level do not have the capacity to clock the times needed to win a medal at the senior level, so proven swimmers continue to excel in every competition.

Samidul, however, informed that district and club teams are producing swimmers at the junior level, and the service teams are recruiting these talented swimmers at a young age to groom them for senior competitions and for national representation.

Interestingly, 11 swimmers shared all 19 gold medals in the men's events, while only five swimmers shared 16 gold medals in the women's events of the senior championships, highlighting the widening gap between service and district teams.