Swimming, considered one of the most well-known sports globally, consists of many different strokes ranging from minimal difficulty to maximum difficulty levels. One such stroke is the Butterfly stroke. It is a very distinctive swim stroke and it looks spectacular, but because of its difficulty, it is an exhausting stroke even for accomplished swimmers. There are swimmers across the globe who perform the butterfly stroke beautifully, and one such name is Arjun Muralidharan. Arjun Muralidharan swimmer is one of those individuals who has mastered the difficult butterfly stroke and has succeeded in becoming one of the best in this category. It won’t be a stretch to call him “The Butterfly Beast”.
What is the Butterfly Technique?
The butterfly stroke is a swimming stroke swum on the chest, with both arms moving symmetrically, accompanied by the butterfly kick along with the movement of the hips and chest. It is stated to be a difficult swimming stroke because it boasts a higher peak velocity than the front crawl, owing to the synchronous propulsion generated by the simultaneous pull/push of both arms and legs. However, due to the pronounced drop in speed during the recovery phase, it is marginally slower than the front crawl, especially over extended distances. Furthermore, the butterfly stroke demands a different level of physical exertion, contributing to its slower overall pace than the front crawl.
This is the technical aspect of the swim stroke but there is no doubt that in order to dominate in this sport, an elevated level of stamina and strength would be required, just like Arjun Muralidharan swimmer.
Background of Arjun Muralidharan Swimmer
Arjun Muralidharan started his journey in swimming at the early age of 5, under the expert guidance of his father, G Muralidharan, an Indian Navy Commander and a former Ranji Trophy athlete. It took him only a mere four years to seal his own national record in the 50m butterfly in the Under-9 Age Group when he was only nine years old. This record has not been broken till the date of publication which is an incredible feat.
Four years after the record in the year 2000, when he was 13 years old, Arjun Muralidharan was crowned the best swimmer in the 17th Sub-Junior Aquatics Championships with 5 gold medals. Although he excelled in different forms of swimming strokes, the butterfly stroke remained his forte and his sports domination came mostly from this category.
Global Training of Arjun Muralidharan
Although Arjun Muralidharan swimmer initially coached under his father, eventually he went abroad to get comprehensive coaching under other well-known global coaches. In 2007, he coached under British Olympic coach Sean Kelly in the United Kingdom for 7 months. In 2008, he moved his training base to Canada and got trained there under several world-class coaches like Byron MacDonald for multiple months.
Domination with the Butterfly Stroke
Despite the difficulty that many swimmers face with the butterfly stroke, Arjun Muralidharan swimmer seems to flourish in it. His success in this arena was so spectacular that he is widely considered as the best Indian Butterfly swimmer.
Arjun Muralidharan’s medal tally reflects this distinction exquisitely. He held all three National titles in 50m, 100m and, 200m butterfly for four years from the year 2004 to 2007, which is a truly remarkable accomplishment – to maintain domination for multiple years consecutively. He also won three successive Open National Championships from the year 2004 to 2006.
It should be noted that Arjun Muralidharan swimmer is the first Indian swimmer to receive a gold medal in an international event ‘Speedo Eastern Canadian Championships’ in 2006. He also holds the record of being the first Indian swimmer to win a Bronze medal in Commonwealth Youth Games in the year 2004. He broke his own National 100m butterfly record in the 2006 Asian Games. Further, in the 2010 South Asian Games, Arjun won a gold medal in the 100m butterfly.
Arjun Muralidharan’s gold medal win at the foreign long course National Championship in the 200 meters butterfly during the 2008 Quebec Cup held at Montreal Quebec, made him the first Indian to do so. In the same year, he also won a bronze medal in the short course 200m butterfly during the Canada Cup. He recorded a timestamp of 1: 59 :45 which is a national record that still remains unbroken.
A True Sportsman- Arjun Muralidharan Swimmer
After leaving the field as a participant, Arjun Muralidharan swimmer shifted his focus to helping and mentoring other athletes, especially in the field of swimming. He opened the Bluewater Sports Academy along with his father and brother with the aim to extend a stream of structured support to students and leading them to their triumphs on the podiums. Arjun Muralidharan wants to make swimming an accessible sport for young children so that they are all able to realize their potential. He also encourages people to swim for fun and offers training for both groups in his academy – students swimming to compete as well as students swimming for fun or fitness.
It is wonderful to see such a decorated sports person who was a beast in their own game teaching their winning techniques to the next gen.
