Tag Archives: Nihar Ameen

Sailing against the tide

Karnataka (under research project), Leaders, Sports, World Opinion, , , , , , , ,

Bengaluru, KARNATAKA :

Olympaid swimmer Srihari Nataraj’s coach, Nihar Ameen in a candid chat with CE, shares why Tokyo Olympics 2020 was the toughest mission for him

Bengaluru :

He may not have won a medal at the recently-concluded Tokyo Olympics 2020. But swimmer Srihari Nataraj’s coach, Nihar Ameen, is proud of his student who has faced several lows during the last one-and-a-half years as he prepared for the biggest sporting event. During a tete-a-tete with the coach on a weekday afternoon, Ameen shows no sense of disappointment at his ‘shishya’ not bringing home a medal. Instead, following Nataraj’s elimination at the Olympics, Ameen has got down to business immediately. He’s working on Nataraj’s performance who he feels needs to be stronger and fitter. “We are just waiting for the 2022 calendar to come out and we have already started the preparations for the Asian Games. We have got three years now to set everything right and we will come back with a medal from Paris in 2024,” says Ameen, a Dronacharya awardee.

Along the course of the conversation, Ameen, who has been a trainer for nearly four decades, confides that this has been the toughest mission for him so far.While the fear of Covid-19 remained on one side, the task to prepare Nataraj for the Olympics to “start from scratch” was another. Following the lockdown in India during 2020, a lot of sports arenas and training centres were shutdown. Swimming pools were no different. Ameen believes that the closure of swimming pools did take a severe toll on training. “In India, pools were completely shut for seven-eight months. Srihari got no training whatsoever. If at all the lockdown was relaxed and swimming centres opened early in 2020, Nataraj’s results would be different. I am confident that he would have reached the finals,” says Ameen, who had little time to get Nataraj to the top 16 in the world.

The inconsistent training periods also proved to be a major challenge for the coach. “Sportspersons become very rusty if there is no consistent training. I had to bring Nataraj from zero because he was not in the best of shapes. Although Nataraj is tough mentally, however, we had to build the natural processes. Being out of water for so long, he also suffered a shoulder injury during an event in Dubai,” says Ameen, adding that Nataraj had just 10 days to come to his best ahead of the competition at Tokyo Olympics.

From a very festive departure in New Delhi to a very subdued welcome at Tokyo, Ameen admits he was shocked and surprised at the “dead atmosphere” that shadowed the world’s most important sporting event. After landing in Tokyo, the team was made to wait for over six hours due to the strict health protocols enforced at the airport. “This wait too, affected the minds of participants,” feels Ameen.

The rapport between Ameen and Nataraj is like any other case study of a guru and his disciple. Ameen believes that with the right nurturing, Nataraj will go places. “He is a self-motivated person, and is a national asset who needs to be nurtured well,” Ameen adds. The two often sit together and plan the training programme. “Once he gets down to do what he is supposed to do, I am there to supervise. We don’t have any verbal communication after that,”says Ameen.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Sanath Prasad, Express News Service / August 12th, 2021

Yardage of Karnataka splashers

Sports, , , ,

Two swimming coaches – Pradeep Kumar and Nihar Ahmed – on what keeps the states swimmers going

Bengaluru , KARNATAKA :

Karnataka’s swimmers’ success in the recently held Sub-Junior National Aquatic Championship at Bengaluru shouldn’t come as a surprise. Karnataka swimmers have been dominating the National events decade after decade now. Prior to the 2016 sub-junior and junior National meets in Bengaluru, Karnataka won the National Championship in the junior section for a record 24 years and it’s senior team has been a champion for 23 years! In 2015, Karnataka created the historic hat-trick by making a clean sweep of National titles in Sub-Junior, Junior and Senior ranks. The state has produced several Olympian swimmers such as, Nisha Millet, Shikha Tandon, H.S. Hakimuddin and Rehan Poncha . In terms of infrastructure, Karnataka ranks high on the National list and its no surprise that swimmers from other states make a bee-line here for for training.

What makes Karnataka a powerhouse in swimming? The credit goes to two award-winning coaches — S. Pradeep Kumar and Nihar Ameen. Between the two, they have trained hundreds of National and international swimmers who won laurels to the State and the country. The two veteran coaches speak to MetroPlus on the rise of Karnataka in aquatics and what made their swimmers tick.

Pradeep Kumar
Pradeep Kumar

Pradeep Kumar, who has been a National coach, says, “I will put that down to our club system. We have several swimming clubs, which have dedicated coaches and good training system in place.” “We also have 1,000 registered competitive swimmers and that’s where the talent keeps coming from. We also have a State Association (KSA) which is committed to support young talent’’ adds Pradeep.

But Pradeep feels that other states, especially Maharashtra, is catching up and there is a dip in the standard of Karnataka swimmers. “Of late, other state swimmers come and train here. This is a disadvantage for us. At my club, Basavangudi Aquatic Centre (BAC), I stopped taking outside swimmers five years ago,” opines the coach.

Pradeep also points out that the short span of swimmers’ career also is a setback. “Most junior swimmers get into professional courses after high school on sports quota. Once they do that, they stop competing and it affects our prospects. Instead of sports quota, it would be better if the State Government directs the Education Department to give grace marks for excellence in swimming,” he observes. Another challenge for the State swimmers is to find jobs. “There is a lack of career opportunity in the State for the swimmers and they often are lured away by other States and public sector units like railways,” says Pradeep.

Pradeep has a healthy rivalry with Nihar Ameen at State meets where their teams clash for the overall title. Nihar, who is the first swimming coach in the country to be honoured with the Dronacharya Award for excellence in coaching in 2015, holds strong views on the state of sport.

Nihar Ameen
Nihar Ameen

Nihar cites three major reasons for Karnataka’s dominance in swimming – “First, we have the best State swimming association in the country and under the president, Neelkant Rao Jagdale, KSA has grown from strength to strength putting in place a well-developed system to promote the sport. Secondly, thanks to conducive system, we have several clubs in this Bengaluru, Mysore and Mangalore, which have good training programmes. Thirdly, we have the best infrastructure and of late many pools have been privatised and are professionally managed now.” He also adds, “The sport is picking up in Dakshin Kannada, especially in Puttur.”

Nihar, however, admits that despite its supremacy, there has been a marked decline in the quality of performances. “There are fewer National records and the attrition rate among swimmers is on the rise. The scene was not the same 20 years ago. The present generation has other options and distractions and I don’t find the same level of commitment that we had in the past.”

Nihar disagrees with the view that training of swimmers from other states in Karnataka poses a challenge for the local talent. He, in fact, trains the Olympians, Virdhwal Khade of Maharashtra and Sandeep Sejwal of Delhi at his pool in Dolphin Swim Centre in Mathikere and adds, “I would say training with outside talent helps local swimmers to raise their standards.”

For Pradeep and Nihar, who have presided Karnataka’s rule in the pool for the past two decades, the lack of a strong second line of coaches is worrisome. But, there are signs that a new crop of top coaches will soon emerge. Former National champion Nisha Millet is on the job, by turning to be a full time coach. But, Karnataka needs more to keep the State flag flying in the pool!

source:  http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Metroplus / by Kalyan Ashok / Bengaluru – July 02nd, 2016

A journey to cherish

Sports, World Opinion, , ,

Bengaluru,  KARNATAKA  :

Lack of proper scouting network has hurt the growth of swimming in India: Nihar Ameen

NiharAmeenMPOs30may2016

Nihar Ameen’s journey as a swimming coach began more out of compulsion than choice. The then 20-year-old Nihar had just one goal, to coach his sister Shanaz Shacoor when she was left floundering after being the youngest swimmer at the 1982 Asian Games.

“I was forced into it (being a coach) due to various reasons. I never thought it would turn out to so good,” says Nihar, recalling his early days.

“It was a short-term goal back then. There was my sister, 12-years-old when she competed at the Asian Games and she needed someone to train under. It was a learning curve,” he continues.

Thirty-four years have gone by since then. Nihar today is one of the respected and most sought-after swimming coaches in India. The 2015 Dronacharya awardee who has produced medal winners at the Asian Games level besides shaping the careers of many aspiring swimmers, Nihar has let his work speak for itself.

In a freewheeling interview with Deccan Herald, the 54-year-old coach discusses the upcoming Olympics, his two Asian Games medal-winning swimmers and the swimming scene in India. Excerpts:

Another Olympic Games is fast approaching and India’s swimmers are yet to clock the ‘A’ standard to assure themselves of a place at the Rio Games. How disappointing is it given that the qualification period ends on July 3?

I won’t say it’s disappointing because no Indian swimmer has ever made an ‘A’ standard. We’re still trying and hopefully we can clock the timings.

Normally — in our case — a male and a female swimmer, who have clocked the ‘B’ cut goes for the Games (based on the universality quota). And if there’s something to cherish this time it is the fact that we’ve had the most ‘B’ cuts ever. I see this as a sign of some kind of progress.  Unfortunately the qualifying time is moving so far ahead that it has become difficult. Like in 100M freestyle, the qualifying time (48.99 seconds) is so close to Alexander Popov’s world record time (48.29 seconds) set in 1994. It stood for close to six years. So it’s a mixture of all these factors that have hurt us.

India’s presence at the international stage is very minimal. Our swimmers have found it hard to match the international standard, what would you pin that on?

I think it (the problem) begins with talent identification. We don’t have a system where we go out and scout for swimming talent. Right now, the best coaches in the country only have accesses to those swimmers who come to them. With a population of over a billion, the number of registered swimmers is very less. If you consider countries like China, the US and Australia, they have a huge number of competitive swimmers. China has close to 700,000 swimmers, the US has close to that number too. Australia has close to 1,50,000 swimmers. Quite frankly, I believe, the more milk you have, more cream you’ll get on the top.

Funding is another big issue. The kids who come to us (coaches) have to pay for everything. And that’s a big amount. Another aspect is the mentality of the parents. Like for instance, by the time a young swimmer reaches the 10th grade, a eureka moment hits them and suddenly everything stops and academics takes centre stage. And once the kid is in college, sport takes a huge backward step.

And above all is the fact that disciplines like track and field and swimming, which are considered to be the mother sport for an Olympic nation, struggle for money.

If you look at other countries, the Olympic committee pays special emphasis on these events as they have maximum number of medals up for grabs. But in India, unfortunately, these are the disciplines that struggle for funds.

You have been into the sport of swimming for over three decades now. How much has the sport changed and evolved?

It’s a completely different scenario now. We are a cricket-mad nation because of which Olympic sport takes a back seat on many fronts. If you look at nations like the US and Australia, how people perceive sport is totally different than how we do in India. Here it’s still a leisure activity, while in the west, it’s a multi-billion dollar industry. But having said that, I can see the scenario changing. Especially in the metropolitan cities, parents are now aware of the role sport can play in the overall development of their kid. But it’s not a country-wide (phenomenon).

Two of India’s medal-winning swimmers at the Asian Games, Virdhawal Khade and Sandeep Sejwal, have trained under you. What made them different from other swimmers?

They were extremely talented and a lot had to do with the lack of parental interference. Up to a point their parents were very much involved in getting them into the right programme. But once they knew that their kids were in the right programme, there was this essence of trust, which is very much lacking today. It was their talent accompanied by complete trust from their parents.

Sandeep’s parents were in Delhi and Veerdhawal’s parents were in Kolhapur. They trusted me completely and I ensured that they went as far as they could and that relationship worked like magic.

Karnataka has been a dominant force in swimming in India. Winning the national championships and churning out quality swimmers seem like an every day activity. What has been the winning formula?

Two things, first, it’s the coaching. We have some of the best coaches in the country who have been producing a number of top swimmers for the past 2-3 decades. Secondly, the infrastructure is being used properly and the State association is one of the more functional ones in the whole country. It’s the combination of these that has paid off.

You were presented with the Dronacharya award in 2015. How much does the honour mean to you and the swimming community in India?

I think it should mean more to the swimming fraternity than to me. While I am thrilled that I got the award, it’s just the affirmation of the 35-36 years of labour that I have put in to make it work in our country and produce quality swimmers.

But I really hope that the powers in the sports ministry wake up and take a look at what swimming and that the sport gets some recognition from this award.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Supplements> Sportscene / by Naveen Peter / DHNS / May 29th, 2016