Vedaant Madhavan – a star son who shines on his own

There is something right about the way Vedaant Madhavan, the upcoming Indian swimmer and the son of Tamil screen idol R. Madhavan, has been brought up. He gets excited like any other 17-year-old about the ‘new kits and shoes’ which the Khelo India Youth Games provides but is also focused about his goal – that of representing the country in the Olympics.

 It was a pleasure to catch up with the rooted teenager in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh earlier this month, where I was working as a media consultant for the recent edition of Khelo India. Having known him since my last leg of Dubai days, where the Madhavans decided to shift him when the pandemic kicked in so that he could pursue his dreams, one can vouch for the fact that he has his head in the right place.

 Leading the campaign in the pool for Maharashtra, Vedaant emerged as a star of the pool at the Prakash Taran Pushkar – finishing with five gold medals and two silver – a haul which went a long way in making them overall champions in the medals tally. The competition was tough among his peers, but the lithe Vedaant stood tall with gold in 100 metres, 200m, 1500m freestyle, freestyle and medley relay and silver medals in 400m and 800m freestyle events.

Pradeep Kumar, the former national coach and almost a father figure to Vedaant who mentors him at the Aqua Nation Sports Academy in Dubai, feels that the youngster has been progressing in the right direction so far. The ‘problem’ for Vedaant is whenever he achieves something at the pool, for example the 800 metres freestyle gold or the 1500m silver in Danish Open last year, it creates a buzz in the Bollywood social media circles – but the support system around him is particular not to be distracted by them.

‘’I don’t really like to have the title of being R. Madhavan’s son. I want to create my own identity and my competitors respect me for who I am,’’ the star son (Vedaant Madhavan) had often said in his interviews earlier

 Both the youngster and his mother Saritha, who travelled with him to Madhya Pradesh, know that the road ahead of them is tough. India hardly has a legacy in swimming at the Olympics level, despite two of Vedaant’s seniors at the ANSA in Dubai – Sajjan Prakash and Srihari Nataraj – making history by qualifying for Tokyo 2020 with A cut-off times.

 The Paris Olympics is coming up next year itself and hence, realistically speaking, time is short for Vedaant to make the cut. His think tank is trying to zero in on a berth in the Asian Games contingent later this year – along with the Youth Commonwealth Games in Trinidad & Tobago. Vedaant promises there will be no let-up in effort from his side – and one can expect his support system to stand by him like a rock.

‘’I don’t really like to have the title of being R. Madhavan’s son. I want to create my own identity and my competitors respect me for who I am,’’ the star son had often said in his interviews earlier.

A student of the Universal American School in Dubai, Vedaant’s school leaving exams in the international curriculum are scheduled this year, following which he will be faced with the big leap – that of moving to the next level from being a promising junior. This is where many a young talent slips in the Indian context, and Vedaant needs to make his privileges count.

 We will keep the faith on this likeable young man…