Chennai,21 May (PTI): RN Jayaprakash was on Sunday unanimously re-elected president of the Swimming Federation of India while Monal Chokshi will be the general secretary. The new office-bearers were elected at the Federation’s Annual General Body meeting held here.
Jayaprakash, who would continue to head the SFI for the term 2023-2027, spoke about the key areas identified for ‘Mission 2028′, and said ”We have a lot more work to be done and I’m optimistic towards India becoming a dominant global force in swimming in a few years’ time.” ”It is a privilege to be re-elected as the president of the Swimming Federation of India for a second consecutive term. During my first tenure, I can proudly say that Indian swimming has progressed tremendously as we witnessed history being created when two of our nation’s swimmers achieved the A Qualifying standard for the Olympics in 2021,” he added. He further said that despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the federation made sure that the swimmers had the necessary support.
”Despite the Covid pandemic, SFI has assured that the entire swimming fraternity in India had the optimal support required in terms of infrastructure, best training facilities, world class coaching, global exposure to our young upcoming junior-level swimmers and strengthening the grassroots level structure of this sport. ”We have a lot more work to be done…” According to him, the SFI has identified key focus areas for its Mission 2028, aimed at furthering the development of swimming in the country. The focus areas include the establishment of a national database of swimmers, coaches and academies, implementation of an indigenous coaches education and certification pathway, creation of a systematic talent scouting structure and protocols, review of competition structure and the development of a national talent pool and athlete development pathway.
Further, he said in the next four years, the focus would be on development of grassroot participation by target activity like camps and coaches clinics at the state level; special focus to develop water polo and diving, once again targeting the youth and beginners at the state level.
The SFI chief said emphasis would be on improving officiating and coaching skill upgradation at the entry and development level. The other office-bearers elected on the occasion were: Sudesh Nagvenkar – Treasurer; Anil Vyas, M Satish Kumar, Bhaskar Das, Anil Khatri – Vice-Presidents; Seema Mehrotra, T S Muraleedharan, M Lokeshwor Singh, Lakshmi Chandra Mahakur – Joint Secretaries.