Just six months ago, Swarn Singh had nearly quit rowing. For a sport that depends almost solely on power and strength, the Armyman had neither. The 24-year old’s back was crumbling. He couldn’t bend, let alone enter his boat.

During his early days with the Army, Swarn would run alongside horses to improve his endurance. It was a crucial element that would help him pass Army’s strenuous physical test. But when his back broke down, those days had never felt further away.

However, the specialists treating him at the national camp in Hyderabad didn’t give up. Adopting a mix of desi and innovating techniques, they not only cured his back but also made him race-ready. So when he crossed the line in the men’s singles sculls finals in third position, Swarn — India’s only gold medal hope in rowing —wasn’t entirely unhappy.

In fact, he had no emotions left. Swarn was exhausted, to say the very least. At the finish line, he fell off his boat into the water and had to be rescued by an emergency team. He was whisked into the players’ waiting room at the faraway Chungju Tangeum Lake Rowing Center in an ambulance.

“It was just exhaustion which happens to rowers at times. It was a brave effort as he was struck with severe back pain over the last three to six months and we had to work really hard to get him back into shape,” Rowing Federation of India secretary general MV Sriram said.

Intense duel

But before that, Swarn was involved in a fascinating tussle with South Korea’s Kim Dongyong for the second place. Heading for a photo-finish, Swarn flexed all his muscles and propelled his boat with the sculls, spending every ounce of his energy.

Swarn led the field of six rowers for the first thousand metres of the race and was comfortably headed towards the silver, after being overtaken by Iranian gold medallist Mohsen Shadinaghadeh, who clocked 7:05:66. But it was Korean rower Dongyong, who eventually took the second place with 7:06.17.

“Considering that I was going to leave the sport six months ago due to my back injury, I am happy with my performance here,” Swarn said. “I lost the silver in the last 200m. I am not thrilled with the medal, but I am not unhappy either,” he said.

Swarn’s timing of 7:10.65 was quicker than the 7:31.88 he clocked en route to winning the Asian Championship in China last year. His performance was even better than the London Olympics, where he clocked 7:29.66.He said the fact that he failed to win the gold despite clocking his best timing in the last two years showed the level of competition at the Asian Games.

“I won a gold at the Asian Championships but the difference in the class is very much visible. All the top guys are here and they planned everything to perfection. We were not far too behind,” he said. Not too far behind, but far enough to not claim the top step of the podium. India had sent a 31-member rowing contingent, including nine women.

However, they failed to match their performance from the Guangzhou Asian Games four years ago, where they had returned with five medals including one gold. This time they have won just three bronze medals, with Dushyant Chauhan (lightweight single sculls) and men’s coxless eights team winning the other two.

“We didn’t do much wrong. It’s just that the others were slightly better than us. It is disappointing that the rowing team didn’t win any gold. The next time, we will plan better,” a tired Swarn said.