“Sportsman Never Retires”. Masters Games Thriller!

February 13, 2020 Kurian#mastersgames, #mastersswimming, #Wellness2 Comments

I have here photos of us from Pala, Kerala with medals in the just concluded National Masters Games in Vadodara.

My Alma Mater in Pala, St. Thomas College was the first college in Kerala with own swimming pool when we were students. Now it’s the only college in Kerala with the Olympic size 50 meter swimming pool.

Pala is also home to ‘Thoppans Swimming Academy’ training many swimmers. One of the coaches from the swimming family Thomas Thoppan (second from left) has been to a number of World Masters Games.

And Prof. Sebastian (extreme right, next to me) is the eldest swimmer from Kerala and have come 7th in World Masters Games.

With competition for age brackets of 5 years starting from 25 to 100, masters games is the right ingredient for athletes to be evergreen and competing.

The YouTube link below is of the program broadcast by Kerala’s leading TV news channel, Asianet, featuring me.

It’s in Malayalam language and the message I am giving is that ‘sportsman never retires’ and masters games competition helps to build a healthy nation.

There’s a call for government support and corporate sponsorship for the games and athletes.

Please watch

Elated by medals, humbled by Masters! My first National Games.

February 8, 2020 Kurian#mastersswimming25 Comments

I won two silver (50 meters butterfly and 100 meters freestyle) and one bronze (50 meters freestyle) in the just finished National Masters Games in Vadodara, Gujarat, India.

Thousands of athletes from all over india competed with the best in their age group for glory in sports.

The atmosphere and camaraderie experienced is equal or even better than a university games.

Some of the participants are really aged. It’s heartening to see some of them barely managing to climb the stairs, but roaring in the pool with graceful strokes in the water. Similar is the case with other events.

It’s my first national meet. Work took me outside India and that probably is the only excuse I have for not participating earlier.

Here I am to stay, and try earnestly to fulfill my stated objective of competing in a world championship.

One gold today was an objective. A slightly different approach of selecting a different style in place of freestyle would have given me that opportunity. But the humbling by real masters is a learning experience.

I will search gold and learn from Masters for which I will be training earnestly.

Come join us in the Masters journey.

I Have Done It. On Cloud 9, Ecstatic, Even Self Actualised!

December 16, 2019December 16, 2019 Kurian#goldmedal, #mastersswimming, #swimming13 Comments

That’s two gold medals and two silver medals in the Kerala Masters Swimming Competition in Tiruvandapuram.

It’s in my age group which actually makes it more satisfying.

The two golds are in the 50 and 100 meters breaststroke. But the two silvers are also quite satisfying as I came behind my college days pal, swimming champion and coach.

Something to be absolutely happy about. And the news is that I might have qualified for the national masters swimming competition in Vadodara in the state of Gujarat.

That’s something to work for.

Watch this space.