The Hindu : Karnataka News : Struggling to make it to the English Channel

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Friday, Jul 03, 2009
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Struggling to make it to the English Channel

Vishwa Kundapura

This qualifier lacks the finances to attend the swimming competition

Manjunath, who was selected to participate in English Channel relay swimming competition.

KOLAR: M. Manjunath (30), an amateur swimmer from Kolar district, who was selected to represent Karnataka in the prestigious English Channel swimming competition in July, may not be able to participate for dearth of funds.

Mr. Manjunath is one of the six swimmers from the State qualified to take part in the relay English Channel swimming contest scheduled for July 10. Hailing from a poor family of Kuppahalli village in Srinivaspur taluk in Kolar district, Mr. Manjunath is worried about mobilising enough funds for the ‘dream event’.

Mr. Manjunath, a teacher at Government Higher Primary School at Vishwanathapura in Chintamani taluk of Chickaballapur district, appealed to his fans, officials and sports associations to donate generously so that he can attempt the 38-km-long contest across the English Channel. .

According to Karnataka Swimming Federation honorary secretary T.D. Vijayaraghavan, the qualified swimmers are supposed to report to the team manager and coordinator S.R. Sindhia at Dover. The participants were directed to mobilise funds on their own.

Mr. Manjunath requires around Rs. 1.3 lakh. His application seeking help is pending with Kolar Zilla Panchayat for the past three months. He was able to collect about Rs. 40,000 from friends and well-wishers while he arranged Rs. 50,000 on his own.

Encouraged by his first success in a swimming competition organised as part of State-level Government Employees’ Sports Meet at Mandya in 2001, Mr. Manjunath did not look back.

He won several prizes and medals after that, including one gold, two silver and two bronze medals in South India Masters’ Championship held in Bangalore in 2008.

With only a couple of days left to leave for England, the talented youth has been requesting government agencies such as the Sports and Youth Affairs Department and sports lovers to donate generously. He can be contacted on Ph: 9964457136.

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