Veteran Indian swimmer Virdhawal Khade, an Asian Games bronze medalist from 2010, has resigned from his position of a Tahsildar in the government of Maharashtra, to focus full-time on his coaching career. The 32-year-old, who holds the national records in men’s 50m & 100m, had retired from all swimming competitions after winning a gold at the National Games in November 2023.
Khade made the announcement on X, and wrote, “Excited to share that I have handed in my resignation to The GOM and left my position as a Tahasildar . My next journey as a swim coach has only one goal – To give my best to get India an Olympic medal.”
The talented swimmer had lost out on a few crucial years due to his government job, and a knee injury, but he came back to the circuit in 2018, and made it to the Tokyo Olympics as well. After hanging his boots last year, Khade had said, “At heart, I still feel young, but the body is feeling tired now. Too many years have gone by, and I’ve swum too much in this span. I don’t recover as quickly as I once used to.
“Earlier I could do 10 events without breaking a sweat, but even 3 events feel like a tall order now. I still enjoy the nerves I get before the race though. I don’t think that feeling will ever leave me,” he said.
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