For India’s fastest swimming couple, a freestyle love story and a podium finish

Firdawal, a bronze medalist in the previous Asian Games, extended his dominance in Indian pools by winning two titles, 50m butterfly and freestyle with time of 24.09s and 22.82s respectively.

“It’s unrealistic,” sighs Rujuta, 27. “I mean, look where we were when we got married, we both weren’t even swimming,” Virdhawal, 31, told Rays.

It’s been two days since they were done. The duo poses next to the Khar Gymkhana swimming pool in West Mumbai for photos, realizing there are more than a dozen eyes staring at them.

Here their story began eight years ago. Virdhawal was given honorary membership in the Gymkhana, where Rujuta trained daily.

At first, they’d steal a glance or two and mutter “hello, hello” when they walked past each other. “After that, he started training with us and we started talking,” says Rojota. “Gradually, he offered me lifts and drove me home after rehearsals.”

Rujuta, who is introverted and shy; Virdhawal, unabashed and bold. She is a college girl. He, Olympic and Asian Games medalist. “I wouldn’t message him at all. And he would like, as if, to the Olympics, until the ‘male ego’ used to come,” comments Rugota.

Rugota continues, “When we started dating, I was in college, so if I was in a lecture, I would still text him but if the professor looks at you, you should keep your phone off. If you are two minutes late in replying, then…”

“…I would hold her back for a few days,” Virdhawal completes the sentence shyly. “Looking back, I was so petty. That was a character flaw I had. But we grew up together and matured together.”

A year later, in 2017, they tied the knot. And the beginning of the new union coincided with the smoothening of relations by the spouses with an old comrade – the pool.

Rugota says she began to lose interest in swimming in 2014, then took a break for her final exams in 2015, the year her coach died. “So I gave up like that,” she says.

For Verdawale, the stumbling block was bureaucracy. He was posted as a tehsildar in rural Maharashtra, and for a long time lived a life of mystery.

Virdhawal was given honorary membership in the Gymkhana, where Rujuta trained daily. At first, they’d steal a glance or two and mutter “hello, hello” when they walked past each other. “After that, he started training with us and we started talking,” says Rojota. (Quick photography by Amit Chakravarty)

After missing out on the 2016 Rio Olympics, he decided to return for the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and moved to Bangalore, where he was joined by Rujota. While Virdhawal went back to the grueling grind of a professional athlete, Rujuta accompanied him to the gym and swimming pool just to shed some extra kilos.

“At that time, I was about 20 kg heavier than when I was swimming and I didn’t feel good about it. So, I started going to the gym. He suggested I get into the pool to burn extra calories, which I did,” says Rojota.

Inadvertently, she returns to the pool. Originally a 200-meter swimmer, Rujota blended in with Virdhawal’s short workouts. “As I was losing weight and getting stronger in the gym, I started swimming faster. And before we both knew it, I was clocking training that was fast,” she says.

Driven to beat their actual rivals in the pool like Virdhawal and Rujuta, even the courses become competitive at times. They often fight and make the day “miserable” for the other if one of them had a bad workout. Married professional swimmers laugh.

“But now we’re trying not to carry that baggage at home,” Verdual says.

For Rojota, that figure was 26.61 seconds. Since returning to the pool, and moving from the 200m to the 50m, Rujota has dethroned Shikha Tandon’s national record in 2003.

At the 2019 National Championships, I came agonizingly close. But then the pandemic hit, the swimming pools were the last sports facility to reopen after the lockdown was lifted, and when activities returned to normal, she suffered a spinal injury that could end her career.

“I was diagnosed with scoliosis,” says Rojota. “I was a complete mess. It was so hard for me but he was there to cheer me up every single day.”

“I have had many setbacks in my career,” adds Virdhawal. “There is always a silver lining.”

he knows. After the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was postponed to 2021, Virdhawal has taken a hiatus from swimming due to uncertainty over whether the Games will take place. I couldn’t handle that. It’s always been the case that if I’m training, it has to be for something.”

But when one door closed, another opened. A year after the Olympics, China’s no-Covid policy has forced organizers of the Hangzhou Asian Games to postpone them by one year, with the rescheduling scheduled for Sept. 23 to Oct. 8.

That gave Virdhawal a glimmer of hope. “The postponement gave me more time to prepare and come back.”

He also has unfinished business in The Masters. In Jakarta five years ago, Verdawal missed out on the podium in the 50-meter freestyle by 0.01 seconds. It may be a painful memory but Virdhawal is long gone.

“The next day, I went shopping with Rujuta, who was with me in Jakarta,” he says. “I lost a medal, but life went on.”

He might have reacted differently earlier. But marriage and being with a partner of the same order made him calmer and wiser. However, competitiveness remains the same.

“These were the best years of my life. Even if I don’t swim, I will be fine. I am happy and proud of it as a citizen of Hyderabad. But next time, I will break two records and I will break them,” laughs Virdhawal.

And they’ve already celebrated their anniversary, belatedly: a quiet dinner, the enjoyment of a rare cheat meal, and the satisfaction of being India’s fastest swimming duo.