Swapna's coach talks about struggles she endured ahead of Asian Games

Swapna Barman's coach Subhash Sarkar put the story into perspective by sharing the heptathlete’s difficult journey in the run-up to the Asiad.

Swapna’s heroic story of overcoming a lower back pain and a toothache to win the heptathlon title is well known now.

Golden girl Swapna Barman and the gold medal-winning rowers in the 18th Asian Games on Saturday presented compelling tales of their triumphs.

Swapna’s heroic story of overcoming a lower back pain and a toothache to win the heptathlon title is well known now. Her coach Subhash Sarkar put the story into perspective by sharing the heptathlete’s difficult journey in the run-up to the Asiad.

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“Since her feet are abnormally wider due to six toes in each foot, the unequal application of force had resulted in knee and ankle injuries. When the injuries came to the light, I met Dr. Anant Joshi in Mumbai on July 30. He said Swapna cannot stop her training even while managing her injury. There was the threat of her knee getting locked due to the injury.

“There was no time to go through surgery. Since it was a stable injury and there was no chance of her knee getting locked during the run, I decided to take chance,” said Sarkar, amidst loud cheers at a felicitation function, coinciding with the 160th foundation day of the Calcutta Rowing Club, here, on Saturday.

Swapna thanked Sarkar for his whole-hearted support. ”I could achieve this because of Sir’s strong backing,” she said.