He almost
drowned but was saved by a friend. This happened in his childhood in his village. This near
drowning experience happened a total of seven times. His friends saved in in
all those instances. He decided to face his fears and learned to swim and is
now a lifeguard with Drishti. Today, he is taken it a step further by training
for the Ironman which will be held in Goa, India for the very first time this
month. Say hello to Akash Sonu Agarwadekar all of 23 from Assnora, Bardez- Goa.
One of four siblings, he is the third. Having lost his parents a
couple of years earlier, all of them work. Akash driven by a fire that burns bright
in his belly was keen on doing something unique. He thought about participating
in different marathons and achieved success. He participated in the Karwar
marathon 2019-2nd place, Goa swimathon 2019-4th place all India, Panjim tower
run 2019, Goa triathlon race-1st place and the Mapusa marathon 7kms 3rd place.
His placings confirmed he had a yen for it.
His placement and participation in these races was aided by the
fact that he had joined Drishti in 2016. In his first attempt to join Drishti
failed because he was not qualified having not completed 18 years of age and
had one month remaining to turn 18. As soon as he turned 18 he tried again and
qualified and was later posted to Calangute beach. The life of a lifeguard is
stressful. Especially on nights like December 31. Inebriated holidaymakers are
not very keen to listen to pleas or instructions of lifeguards. In all, till
date, Akash has saved 24 lives in single handed rescues. Later he was posted at
Candolim beach and now he works at the Miramar beach, Panjim. In assisted
rescues, he has crossed the half century mark.
His drive to achieve
good results in his sporting career makes him wake up at 4 o clock. He trains
from 5 o clock to 8 o clock. He cycles every morning and the swims and runs
every evening. Akash said “Running on the beach is better than running on the
road. I run for 2.5 kms per day as a part of my training”. He said that, he has
been able to reach this point in his life only because of the support of
Drishti. The company has given him a cycle, a phone along with a connected
watch so that he can time his running and prepare better.
He also has a a
trainer, Kimberley Shah from Mumbai who helps him in his daily exercise
routine, tracks his performance on an app on his phone. The app also helps him
to interact with Kimberley about exercises he is unable to follow or are
causing him pain etc.
Akash has also learnt
to swim against the currents because it helps him to improve his speed at
swimming. In all this he has not missed a day at work. He said “ I have not
taken leave to practice for the competition because I feel my job is also a
part of my routine and exercise”.
He
does have bigger ambitions and would like to participate in bigger contests
than Ironman but for now he wants to only focus on the Goa Ironman because he
has been preparing for it from a very long time. Finally when asked if he had
any sporting idols he smiled and said “Ussain Bolt and Cristiano Ronaldo and I
do not like any sport other than cycling, swimming, and running.” Focused he is
undoubtedly. Goa can only wish him all the best.
