Ariful longs for home

Swimmer Ariful Islam could have caught a flight to Bangladesh before lockdown was enforced in France early last month, but the 21-year-old decided to stay back there in home quarantine in a bid to keep his family members and others in Bangladesh safe from the coronavirus.

Ariful, a member of the national swimming team, has been in France since September, 2018 under the International Olympic Committee's scholarship. The Bangladesh Navy swimmer was preparing himself for the now-postponed Tokyo Olympics, but due to the postponement of the Games, Ariful's scholarship has also been extended by a year.

Ariful has been confined inside his apartment in Petit-Couronne of Rouen for the last 30 days along with four other swimmers from African countries. There were others though including a Syrian swimmer, also under the IOC scholarships, who left the apartment just a day before the announcement of lockdown.  

"I could have left France early last month before the lockdown but I didn't do so as it would have been bad for Bangladesh and my family had I carried the virus," Ariful told The Daily Star over phone from France.

"I'm bored at home as I was used to doing training every day. I wish I could return home to my mother, father, brothers and sister even though the situation in Bangladesh is deteriorating every day. But then again there is no scope of returning as all flights are closed," Ariful said.

The lad from Kishoreganj had a scare when a neighbour contracted COVID-19, but he kept himself calm.

"Last month, a woman got infected close to our building and I was a bit scared about the incident. May be she came back after being cured. The elderly citizens above 56 years in France are most affected by the coronavirus. We have to accept the current situation and stay strong to keep the virus away," said Ariful.

Even during these times, Ariful is keeping himself busy with cooking. "I go to the kitchen market once a week on government vehicle with government permission. Though I used to cook only on Saturdays and Sundays earlier, now I'm cooking every day. And I have been cooking better and better," said the former BKSP student.

In the last South Asian Games in Nepal, Ariful won two silver medals and a bronze medal, thanks to the improvement in his timing during his one-and-a-half year's training in France. The swimmer claimed he has improved his 100m breaststroke timing to 1.20 minutes (SA Games timing) from 1.70 minutes (in 2018) while his 50m breaststroke timing has improved to 28.19 seconds from 30.2 seconds.

The swimmer informed that the IOC, Bangladesh Olympic Association and Bangladesh Swimming Federation are in regular contact with him while he is keeping in touch with his family and advising them to stay at home.

Ariful last came to Bangladesh at the end of December last year before leaving for France on February 2. He is planning to return home, subject to the improvement of the situations in both France and Bangladesh.