The Maharashtra State Veterans Aquatic Association and the Nagpur District Veterans Swimming Association (NDVSA), in collaboration with Hanuman Sports Academy, have organized the 25th State-Level Veterans Competition to celebrate the association’s silver jubilee.
The competitions are scheduled for September 21 and 22 at the NIT Swimming Pool. Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, will inaugurate the event, with Prashant Ugemuge and Sanjay Lokhande as the guests of honour.
Vijay Munishwar, a recipient of the Arjuna, Dronacharya, and Chhatrapati awards, will be the guest at the closing ceremony. Sunil Shah and Nikhil Shah from Paragon Pvt Ltd, dealers of Royal Enfield bikes, will also attend.
“The competition expects around 400 swimmers from across the state, along with 200 to 250 participants from the city. The different age groups for men and women are 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, and above 80 years,” informed Akhil Mantri, Secretary, NDVSA, during a press conference.
“Each athlete can compete in up to four events, excluding relays. Seniors Prabhakar Sathe, Bhojraj Meshram, and Prabha Bhaiyya will be felicitated for their contributions to swimming,” added Amit Saoji, President, NDVSA.
“The technical conduct of the events will be managed by AAN’s Roshan Choudhary, while Sengupta Hospitals has volunteered to provide medical support,” said Sanjay Batwe, a member of the NDVSA technical committee. He also mentioned that participants will be provided with free food and accommodation.
The events include freestyle races of 50m, 100m, 200m, and 400m, breaststroke 50m and 100m, backstroke 50m and 100m, butterfly 50m and 100m, a 200m individual medley, a 200m freestyle relay, and a 200m medley relay. In addition to medals and certificates, winners will receive cash prizes and hampers from the adventure sports accessory brand Decathlon. Rakesh Barapatre and Dilip Bhoyar were also present at the press conference.