A Jewel in the pool
Jewel Ahmed marked his maiden appearance in the National Swimming Championships with a new national record on way to winning three gold medals on the opening day of the 26th edition of the meet at the Syed Nazrul Islam National Swimming Complex in Mirpur yesterday.
Jewel, an 18-year old swimmer from Bangladesh Army, bagged the day's first gold in the 200m butterfly clocking 2:16.20 minutes before taking the second gold in 200m backstroke at a time of 2:25.98 minutes. Jewel finally broke the 10-year old national record in the 400m individual medley clocking 4:55.22 minutes that eclipsed Rubel Rana's record of 4:56.45 minutes set in 2002.
It is not that Jewel, a son of farmer from Kushtia's Amla, hogged the all light in his debut in the National Swimming Championships rather Jewel is the man who has countless gold medals in the National Junior meets from 2004 to 2011.
“I can't give you the accurate number of gold medals I won in the junior championships but that will not be less than 60,†said a smiling Jewel after setting up the national records yesterday.
“From the very beginning I was confident of putting on a good show and started the day well by winning the first gold and finally set a new record,†said the diminutive swimmer.
Jewel was ecstatic about breaking the record of his idol Rubel Rana, who also comes from his native Kushtia.
“People of Amla accorded a reception to Rubel bhai following his gold medal triumph in the South Asian Games (Pakistan, 2004). At that time I was only 10 and went to see him and thought if Rubel bhai could do it, then why not me? I could also become a good swimmer. That was my beginning,†said Jewel who has just enrolled himself in the Bangladesh Army this year, having been in the Bangladesh Ansar thus far.
“He is an efficient and speedy swimmer for the long range events such as 200m, 400m and relay. I think he will do well in the future if he gets advanced training,†said Bangladesh Navy's Rubel Rana, who skipped the 400m medley due to a lack of preparation owing to his professional training, even though he would compete against Jewel in today's 100m backstroke, which is the favourite event of both the swimmers.
While other swimmers complained about the lack of preparation and cold water for their poor performance, Jewel ruled out the excuses saying, “It doesn't matter whether it is winter or summer, rather it depends on the individual and how he prepares for the competition.â€
Jewel's feat also put Bangladesh Army on top of the medals table at the end of the first day with four gold, four silver and one bronze medals followed
by Bangladesh Navy with two gold, two silver and one bronze medals. Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan were in the third position with two gold, four silver and six bronze medals.
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