Ambala, November 25
The three-day 18th Masters National Swimming Championship began at War Heroes Memorial Stadium in Ambala Cantonment today.
Around 750 participants from across the country have reached here to participate in the championship.
Anil Khatri, joint secretary of the Swimming Federation of India, said: “Nearly 750 participants – 300 female and 450 male master swimmers – are participating in the championship. Of the total, around 46 are from Haryana. The master national swimming championship is being held here for the first time. We are hopeful that international-level championships will be held in Ambala in near future.”
“The way Haryana’s sportspersons are bringing medals in other sports, swimmers of the state have also started performing well at the national level. The Haryana Government is also showing a keen interest in promoting swimming. For this, it has constructed an all-weather Olympic-size swimming pool in Ambala. The pool will help the swimmer of Haryana to practice throughout the year,” he added.
The joint secretary said: “There is a need to build more such all-weather swimming pools, at least range-wise, so that budding players can get the facilities in their nearest districts. It is hard for the players of Gurugram, Hisar, Sirsa and Rohtak to come to Ambala for practice. We will request the Haryana Government to build more such pools in the state.”
Ambala Swimming Association president Rajinder Vij said: “Ambala is being developed as a sports hub by the state government. A nursery and an academy for swimmers are being run in Ambala. The swimmers have won medals in various championships. The government has sanctioned another swimming academy for Ambala.”
Ambala Deputy Commissioner Priyanka Soni, who was present on an inaugural day, said: “It was heartening to see master swimmers participating in the championship in Ambala. We are hopeful that more national level championships will be organised here in the coming future.”
