To take part in swimming tourney, they ride 6K kms
AGE NO BAR Couple rode from Kota to Mysore, woman wins medals KOTA:An
elderly couple from Kota took a bike ride of over 6000 kms to participate in an open national swimming competition in Mysore in Karnataka, proving that age is no bar. And the woman won three medals.
Anand Singh Shekhawat (59) and his wife Krishna Shekhawat (58) – grandparents of four kids from two sons – left Kota on their Enfield on October 26. Passing through Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh and Shirdi in Maharashtra, they reached Mysore on October 30 to take part in the National Masters Championships, organised by the Swimming Federation of India.
“We both participated in the swimming competition in the 55-59 age group, in which Krishna won three bronze medals in 100metre backstroke, 200-metre freestyle and 400-metre freestyle,” Anand said. “I could not win a medal because of stiff competition.”
Anand first participated in inter-university swimming events, and later in open championships, in which he had won half a dozen medals. “I have also remained a swimming coach for the police and CRPF in Kota.”
Krishna said, “I was a swimmer from a young age. I again took up swimming in Kota around 15 years ago when a new pool was opened in Kota on my husband’s initiative.” She won a bronze medal in a swimming championship held in Bhopal in 2008.
“I have participated in six swimming championships in the last nine years and won 17-18 medals,” said Krishna, who is a diabetic and takes insulin injections daily.
This is not the couple’s first bike expedition; they have been going places on their bike for the last one decade for fun and adventure. “I have a friend in Jaipur who provides bikes on rent to foreigners for visiting tourist places; this prompted me to undertake bike expeditions to see natural places of India from close proximity,” said Anand, who is in transport business.
“I and Krishna first went to Vaishno Devi on our bike around a decade ago and later to Kullu Manali; we also went to Gulbarga, Bhopal and other places on our bike to participate in swimming competitions.”
Asked what motivates them to go on bike expeditions at this age, Krishna, a housewife, said, “Swimming, regular morning walks and exercises keep us healthy, which is the key to our motivation for bike expeditions.”