Alathoor: Irakulam is the name of a serene pond in the quaint agricultural village of Kavassery in Palakkad that has made a mark for itself on the map of global aquatics. It was around five decades ago, in 1976, that swimming training was started in this pond. The pond and its locales have now come alive again as news of Keralites' victorious feats in aquatics poured in from the US.

Amritesh Unnikrishnan and Sujith Sahadevan, who were trained in this pond, have won five gold medals, three silver and a bronze medal at the Police and Fire Games held at Birmingham in the US. The duo will be felicitated in New Delhi on July 18.

Irakulam, the village pond at Kavassery is owned by E K Vasudevan, E A Shekharan, Kuttikrishnan and E A Sethumadhavan. Their unwavering support played a pivotal role in turning Kavassery into a major hub of swimming and aquatic sports.

It was K Narayanan, former district sports council secretary and sports instructor at the Perunkulam AUP School, who took the initiative to start swimming classes in the pond. The district sports council then decided to train the students in the locality by associating with the Kavassery rural coaching centre.

Late V Valsakumar, who was transferred to Palakkad Sports Council from Thiruvananthapuram was appointed as the first coach. This was a significant move that resulted in turning Irakualm into a major sports hub that produced countless swimming champions. The owners of the pond too have been offering their support and help for the last three decades to achieve this incredible feat.

P Madhavadas, K Manikandan, K Janardanan, A Swaminathan, ES Krishnankutty, C Shivadas, R Kannan, A Mohandas, A Lalitha, V Omana, A Jyothi and ES Sheeba of the first batch of swimmers trained by Valsakumar won medals at many national-level swimming championships. Lalitha, meanwhile, won the prestigious G V Raja sports award in 1979.

P Madhavadas and A Janardanan became swimming coaches at the sports council. Some of them got appointed at the Indian Navy as well as the Army. Swimmers who trained at Irakulam went on to participate in international swimming meets and championships, winning laurels for the quaint hamlet.

Many who were trained here are now working as swimming coaches in foreign countries, while some others landed government jobs under the sports quota. Amritesh Unnikrishnan and Sujith Sahadevan, who won medals at the international Police and Fire Games are the latest entrants to the long list of champions who brought glory to Irakulam. They were trained by P Madhavadas and A Janardanan. Although training got stalled at Irakulam for a while, it has now resumed after the pond has been renovated. Currently, A Mohandas and R Kannan are the chief instructors here.

Irakulam that put Kavassery on the global sports map is now training a group of youngsters who are determined to continue this great tradition.