Chandigarh: Swimmers question process of selection for national games

Deepankar Sharda

Chandigarh, October 9

Some local swimmers have written to the Swimming Federation of India (SFI), alleging the use of ‘unfair’ means for the selection of a local team for the upcoming Goa National Games by the Chandigarh Ad-Hoc Selection Committee for Swimming, which functions under the chairmanship of SM Sharma.

The committee has selected a three-member local contingent for the Goa National Games. However, the local swimmers alleged that the committee did not call them for any trials and selected one of the swimmers without any consideration for merit.

“The team was selected in complete secrecy, without considering merit. There was no formal announcement for conducting any trials, and no woman swimmer has been selected to represent the city. All this has been done to accommodate a swimmer, whose father is closely associated with the ad-hoc committee and works with the Sports Department,” alleged the parent of a swimmer.

“The swimmers who performed with better timings in various events, including the nationals, were bluntly ignored. And, till date, the ad-hoc committee has not informed the swimmers about the criteria,” the parent added. While the swimmers claimed that they had been sidelined from selection, Sharma has maintained that the selection was done purely on the basis of merit.

“Due to the shortage of time, the SFI asked us to avoid conducting trials and to select a team on the basis of merit. We decided to pick the same team that had represented the city in the recently concluded Senior National and the swimmers who had participated in Group I,” said Sharma. He added, “These swimmers and their parents were a part of the previous selections, and no objection was ever filed. The team for the Goa National Games has been picked on the basis of merit, and the allegations are baseless.”