‘Beijing just for experience, I target 2012 Olympics’

“I have been very competitive always and I have a super-sized ego. I just hate to loose. My target in Beijing is to go faster than Sydney (at the Australian Grand Prix where he made the cut for Beijing). I would be really happy if I could go a 2 minute 200 fly swim,” Poncha, aiming to breach the two-minute mark in 200m butterfly, said.

His current best stands at 2:01.40s after the 25-year-old smashed a 22-year-old national record during the qualifying event in Sydney.

But even if he does an encore in Beijing, Poncha says the field would be just too strong for him and therefore he has set his eyes on London.

Before London, however, he is targeting medals at the 2010 Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games the same year to be held in New Delhi.

“I am targeting 2010 Asian and Commonwealth Games and 2012 Olympics. If my body does not give in, I would love to be a triple Olympian,” he said.

“Once I achieve the less-than two minutes mark, I can call myself world class. My current timing placed me seventh overall at the Australian Open meet which I feel is a step in the right direction,” he added.

With little time at hand for his Olympic preparations, Poncha says he would continue to train in India under coach S Pradeep Kumar though a stint abroad would have definitely helped.

“Since there is hardly a month I will not be going abroad for training. I got this far training in India with Pradeep Sir and I will get even better with him. (But) At the end of the day training abroad does help and I may be going but only after the Olympics.

“I believe as long as you have faith in the programme you are in there is no need to train abroad. My preparation will stay the same, I will only work a little extra on my turns and underwater speed,” he said.

A record four swimmers teen sensation Virdhawal Khade, Sandeep Sejwal, Ankur Poseria and Poncha — have made the cut for Beijing and though medals would be too high an expectation, Poncha feels it certainly is the start of an exciting new phase for Indian swimming.

“Four (Indian) swimmers for the first time in Olympics is really great and swimming is definitely getting better. We are all working hard and the four of us are really lucky to have Beijing as an experience so by the time we get to London 2012 we will be ready to perform with medals,” he said.