The Swimming Federation of India has once again done gross injustice to its own athletes by cancelling the National Championship, which was to be held in Rajkot from March 24 to 27.
For the Indian swimmers, starved of competition 2020 and shorn of edge in 2020 as they were kept away from the pools for long, this is another big setback. The official reason from the SFI states that 16 state association affiliated with them could not  open their pools. The veracity of this needs to be verified as post lockdown, due to the Corona virus, resumption of sport has begun in a systematic way in India.
If it is events being held at the National level, then the National Sports Federations have come out with protocols. Prior to this, when the Sports Ministry, the
Sports Authority of India and even the Home Ministry were involved in drawing up SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), the SFI was caught sleeping at the wheels.
The SFI needs to answer when the dates for the Nationals were announced , if at all 16 states which had not been permitted to open their pools had been consulted.
The second point relates to state units finding it tough to secure rail reservations as concessions had been cancelled. Sources said the SFI knew about concessions having been cancelled before. The SFI perhaps has not been in touch with its own affiliates on many issues. Just to jog the readers’ memory, even when the SFI sent elite swimmers to the UAE for training, there was a lot of poor planning.
As regards rising Covid-19 cases in Gujarat leading to the cancellation of the Nationals, it cannot be true. New Corona virus strains have affected Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Telanagana, Kerala, Punjab and a few more states. But Gujarat has handled the situation well, as was evident from Ahmedabad hosting the last two cricket Tests in Bio Bubble at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
That apart, the same stadium will also be hosting the IPL playofffs in May.
Resumption of sport in India, under strict protocols, has been an education in itself. Cricket, ISL, motorsport, and athletics, most recently have shown the way. The National Junior Athletics in Guwahati had 1600 participants.
The AFI conducted many national level events , Junior Federation Cup in Bhopal, National Race Walk Championships in Ranchi and National Cross-Country Championships in Dera Bassi near Chandigarh and three Indian Grand Prix meets in Patiala.
For the record, the National Table Tennis Championship was held in Panchkula last month where Manika Batra emerged champion.
In addition, the NRAI has been holding trials for the Tokyo Olympics in New Delhi and Bhopal. Later in March, the ISSF World Cup will be held in the Capital.
In cycling, road racing Nationals are on in Navi Mumbai this week.