A chance encounter with an old uni mate who also happened to be an Olympic legend inspired Pan Pacific Masters champion Sandeep Gulia to dive in at the deep end.
Gulia, a Bond 1999 graduate who took up swimming during the COVID 19 pandemic, set his sights on competing in masters events after reconnecting with fellow Bondie and three-time Olympic Gold medallist Grant Hacket while watching his kids training at Sydney Olympic Park.
“I felt inspired by another Bondy, you can’t imagine the amount of work Grant Hackett would put in to reach that level,” he said.
“It really pushed me to give it a go and give it my best shot.”
Sandeep took home the gold in the 800m butterfly and finished second in the 200m and 400m Butterfly and 400m breaststroke at the Pan Pacific Masters Games on the Gold Coast.
“It was a great achievement because not many competitors could make the distance of the 800m butterfly,” he said.
Gulia, who was born and raised in the Indian city of Delhi, moved to Bond in 1998 to complete a Master of Technology Management and he has remained in Australia since graduating, settling in Sydney.
When his kids started swimming, he thought he would give it a try too.
“My kids were at SOPAC (Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre) and so I thought I would give it a try; I wanted them to see that their dad was giving it a go too,” he said.
The lead up to the mammoth event in the form of the 800m butterfly required some extra training.
“I trained every day, the last few weeks before the Pan Pacific Masters Games I was training up to seven hours a day,” said Sandeep
While up on the Gold Coast, Gulia brought his daughter Ria to visit the Bond campus.
“The campus is still very similar, it was a nostalgic experience,” said Sandeep
“I wanted to show my daughter what the Gold Coast is all about.”