Swimmer Advait Page who hails from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, set the Indian 1500 m freestyle swimming national record and clocked 15:23.66s at the Fran Crippen Swim Meet of Champions in 2021. He competed at the recently held Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham, where he finished 7th in the men’s 1500 m freestyle final. Advait Page had an exclusive conversation with The Daily Guardian Review. Excerpts.
Q: Advait, you finished seventh in the men’s 1500 m freestyle event at the Commonwealth Games, what was the first thought that came to your mind at that particular moment?
A: When I touched the wall there, I was just happy, that it’s over. I have been waiting patiently that all my efforts and perseverance that I bestowed on this target of mine to represent my country at this platform. Finally, it was done in a good way, also I had lots of fun while swimming there, I was overwhelmed to experience that and once it was done, I was relaxed!
Q: Page you scored a timing of 15:32.36 at CWG Birmingham, what were you aiming at and what do you aim to achieve in the coming tournaments?
A: Well, my aim was to get faster or get as much close to my PB which was 15.23, but in the finals, I could only manage 15.32, and it was ok because it meant that I have to swim at a stretch for 1500 m and come back the other day for the second time. As we say time really does not matter but a physician does. But it was good to compete with seven other great athletes from other countries. I was happy that I got seventh place. I am looking to improve on my time as well and also gearing up to qualify for the Paris Olympics which currently carries a benchmark of 15:00 time duration.
Q: Advait, back in 2018 you broke an eight-year-old national record by winning the 800 m freestyle event on the concluding day of the National Aquatic Championship, how was that feeling? Please, cherish memories.
A: Well, yeah that was one of my memorable moments, it was a big meet for me as it was my first senior National title I Won, I ended up winning three. In that process, I made the National record in both 800 m and 1500 m freestyle events. It was all the more special, as I broke the record of one of my ideals. It was Saurabh Sangvekar’s record. And he too was competing with us, so that gave me the confidence that I too can achieve big things in life if I work for it.
Q: Who is your inspiration?
A: Is very hard to take a single name, but one name I feel like and that is definitely the biggest shout-out right now is Robert Finke, Olympic Champion Bobby Finke of the United States won the men’s 800 m freestyle at the World Championships. He won two gold medals for the United States in the 2020 Summer Olympics in men’s 800 m and 1500 m freestyle swims. He is just amazing, I see him everyday while he is training, it’s impressive to see his performance in the training but it’s more impressive to see the way he interacts with people. It seems he is a great friend and I learn a lot from him.
Q: You belong to MP, so do you know the local dialect?
A: (Laughs) Yeah, it has to do everything with Hindi and I haven’t spoken Hindi in my entire life. But in Indore, there is a definite way of talking to someone like “Kidhar Jaariya hai? (Where are you going), or “Pohe Jalebi khana hai kya” (Do you want to eat Pohe Jalebi) a cuisine which every MP guy is fond of eating.” People in Indore love to eat this and I have grown up with this a little bit.
Q: Being a swimmer, what kind of fitness and daily regime one should take up?
A: Well, swimming! It’s a tough sport. It takes a lot of preparation. A lot goes behind becoming a successful athlete in the sport of swimming. It’s one of the sports where you need to train twice a day in a pool and on top of that you are even doing some exercises in a gym. Over all, there are three different practice sessions. Also, you have a jam-packed training schedule for the week, for a month. For example, like I train for distance so it requires a whole block of four or five months and it follows with lots of discipline and patience. It’s rigorous but you just have to push yourself a lot so that when it’s time to compete, the things you do during the training really show up.
Q: How were your Corona days, did you simply spend time snacking, Binge watching?
A: Yeah! That was a difficult time. The schools were shut down and we didn’t have access to any external place for the exercises. But my biggest focus was the Olympics games, which got postponed afterward. But I continued to exercise at home, took care of my diet, and maintained my fitness. I prepared myself for the next block of training. Yes, I took proper rest for my body.
Q: If not swimming then what?
A: I would have tried to get into football, or if not sport all together then preferably a Chef.