By his own admission, 29-year-old Swapnil Kusale shoots more bullets than the words he speaks on a normal day. The shy Kolhapur rifle shooter doesn’t plan to change this trait. He says it helps him focus more on his only priority – shooting.With a bronze in Paris Olympics, Swapnil became the first and only Indian to win a medal in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions event in Olympics history.
Swapnil is only the second Olympic medallist from Maharashtra after Khashaba Jadhav’s wrestling third-place finish in the 1952 Games. The soft-spoken, tall and ‘fitness freak’ shooter visited The Times of India’s Pune office with his coach Deepali Deshpande, an Olympian herself (2004 Athens). They spoke about his journey to the Summer Games, his bronze-winning shot and how his dream of winning an Olympic gold is a work in progress.
Swapnil said he was away from the social media for 6-7 months before leaving for Paris. “I played some video games to de-stress and spend time with close friends,” he said. The Kolhapur-born, Pune-based shooter is itching to get back to his routine and is “avoiding overeating” while his family and friends celebrate his success. He, however, doesn’t mind a few extra servings of his favourite ‘pooran poli’, a Maharashtrian delicacy made of jaggery, chana dal and wheat.
EXCERPTS FROM THE INTERACTION:
Olympic bronze won, what next?
SK: I am on a (forced) break for now. I am waiting for Deepali ma’am’s call to resume practice. I am planning to slowly get back to my routine from September onwards and prepare for the World Cup Final.
DD: He feeds on shooting. Even after the Olympic trials, the team went to Munich; it was very hectic. I want him to take a break. But he cannot do without practice for more than four days.
What was the differentiating factor about your 3P contest at Olympics?
DD: In his previous big finals, he had lost out on the medals because of the standing position. Prone and kneeling are his forte. He has been shooting in the prone since his junior days and defeated even Gagan Narang in prone final in the 2015 Nationals. But this time, prone was not bad, but somehow it was not on target. He made his weakness (standing) his strength and that made me quite happy.
With no medal in 2016 & 2020, three from Paris is a good change. How did things change?
SK: I was prepared to win (he missed the quota by a small margin) even for Tokyo. Our planning went for a toss due to the one-year delay due to the Covid pandemic.
DD: Because of the shorter Olympic cycle (three years), a few shooters, including Swapnil, were sitting on the fence. They were the easiest to train as they were already there (mentally and technically).
Like Manu Bhaker participated in three different events, do you fancy adding 10m air rifle to your plan?
SK: I do not find thrill in 10m. I find 3P very challenging. My passion is 50 metres. It’s thrilling, different, and an outdoor event. There are challenges of wind, light, managing three positions. The sound of the bullet excites me.
In the Paris final, you hit a 9.1. How did you recover and get back to shooting 10+ scores?
SK: I did not think much about the shots I missed. It was not worth thinking. What to think about the (preceding) bad shot in that fraction of a second (before the next shot) is also an art. My mentors taught me to just analyse why it happened and move on. I knew what went wrong at that point, so I corrected it and shot the next one.
How much impact did the crowd behind you make?
SK: Though the noise is usually loud, this time I did not wear my earplugs. I tried this during the training too. Wearing earplugs made me conscious of my heartbeat and pulse. I was feeling those beats, which in a way put me under pressure. But when I removed the earplugs, the cheering from the Indian supporters motivated me and made me happy. I wanted to do even better in order to hear the cheer louder from the crowd.
You are a man of few words. Do you shoot more than you talk?
SK: It is true. I like to listen more and talk less. It also helps a lot during shooting because we have to be at the lane all the time, so nobody talks to each other much. The self talk helps.
DD: I always tell them that once you talk to someone, you give them the right to talk to you. If you don’t want anybody to talk to you, don’t talk to them. His social circle is very small.
As a coach, how has been your journey with Swapnil since you have known him from a young age?
DD: When you see them grow, you get to know them in-and-out. Because of this long association, I got to know him so well that even while talking about his doubts from Paris on phone, I could sense the confidence from his voice. Such understanding happens only when you know somebody for a long time.
How do you handle anxiety?
SK: (Vaibhav) Agashe sir has been helping me. He says talk to yourself as the anxiety lasts for a short time. It will go away only with self-talk. I go for a walk alone and speak to myself during such situations.
How did you handle the pressure of expectations on your Olympic debut?
SK: My dream is to win an Olympic gold, which is still incomplete. I have been preparing for many years for this day. I applied these years of perseverance and made a promise to myself that come what may, I have to win. I enjoyed every bit of the journey from preparation for qualifications to the finals. I did not have any pressure as it may not help, so I chose to enjoy the road to the Olympics.
You have two teachers in your life-your father and Deepali. How have they influenced you?
SK: Deepali ma’am is like my mother. She has seen my journey throughout my ups and downs, and my parents have always ensured I got everything I needed as I was building my career in shooting. Whether it was equipment or finances, they never let me know how they had arranged for the same for me. I had no idea how they arranged for all the money in the initial days, and I can never forget their sacrifices.
Did your father teach you with a lot of love or a stick in hand?
SK: (Laughs) Fortunately, I have been away from home since 2005 and led a hostel life from a very young age. I was in my village only till class IV.
DD: He is a very sincere boy. He has never misbehaved or been notorious. When I first went to the junior camp, I saw the boys, and I was thinking to myself how I would handle them. With Swapnil, however, there was never a problem. It never happened that he was called to a venue at a particular time, and he did not show up. He did not serve a single punishment in his three-year duration in the juniors category. Only once I remember in 2014, his match in the prone category was in the afternoon, and he and his teammates were shooting well. But they overslept and I saw swollen eyes. Shooters need alertness to apply the skills. If you don’t sleep the entire night, you can still shoot well, but if you oversleep, then the coordination goes for a toss. That was the only time I was really angry with him. Otherwise, he is very disciplined, even with his eating habits. Once he decides some food item is not good for him, he will not touch it. Shooting is all about self-control.
How many months have you been away from your home, and what did you miss during this time?
SK: I miss everything about my home. In Maharashtra, we celebrate so many festivals, and I am not always there at home for the festivities, and I end up missing the family bonding during these occasions. Ultimately, these sacrifices are worth it when moments like these (Olympic medal) come your way. If you have a dream, you need to make these sacrifices and move on. I missed pooranpoli the most.