Radhakrishnan Bhavesh made more than a splash at the recent A.P. State Junior and Sub-Junior Inter District Aquatic Championships conducted at the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) swimming pool, Gachibowli recently.
The sprightly 10-year-old snipped off several seconds from existing milestones to establish three new meet records, thus sealing a place for himself in the state squad for the sub-junior Nationals at Rajkot, Gujarat from July 1 to 4.
In his pet events, the back and butterfly strokes, the Kendriya Vidyalaya, Picket student did especially well, while wading away with five golds and a bronze in all. In the 50 metres butterfly, he timed 35.63, improving on the old mark of 37.97 seconds.
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In the 200 metre individual medley, he knocked off a massive dozen seconds, coming in with 3.OO.14 minutes against the existing mark of 3.12.53 minutes. So was his feat in the 100 metre free style impressive, as he finished in 1.14.27 minutes in comparison to the previous 1.18.19 minutes record.
A pupil of G. Umesh, Bhavesh struck gold in the 50 metre back stroke and 50 metre freestyle, besides the bronze in the 50 metre breast stroke. His achievements, not surprisingly, earned him the individual championship title too.
Bhavesh's accomplishments are the fruit of toil spread out over two and a half years. Up every day by 5 a.m., he's taken to the Gurumurthy pool in Secunderabad by his father from their Mettuguda house. There the young lad jogs and goes through a fitness routine till 7 a.m..
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For nearly two hours, the sixth standard student with an A+ academic record slogs in the water till it's time for school. A second session of swimming after classes runs from 5 to 7 p.m.. The average distance he logs in swimming each day spans a stunning eight kms !
Such is his endurance, that he takes part in the 10 K run too, working out even on Sundays at Necklace Road, in addition to some hill training from time to time. Bhavesh has shown little hesitation in competing with much older children in the Open and Kendriya Vidyalaya Nationals, even landing a bronze in the 200 metres individual medley in the latter event, last year.
“To break Michael Phelps' records is my ambition,” says the energetic lad as he sets a goal for himself.