Mysuru: The second day of the National Inter-Club Swimming Championship saw many young swimmers taking part in the competition being held at Chamundi Vihar Sports Complex Swimming Pool here. The youngsters were filled with enthusiasm and zeal, who dream of representing the nation one day.

Star of Mysore met three budding swimmers, who plan to make swimming as their career.

Priyanshu from Haryana, an 8th std student belonging to AIM Sports Club, has bagged Gold medals in 50mts Butterfly stroke and 50mts Backstroke events. He is very passionate about swimming and adds that he will work hard to make it his career. He said, “This is my first experience in the National Inter-Club Swimming Championship and I’m really enjoying it; I would like to participate in more events in future, as swimming through water excites me.”

Nina Venkatesh, a 6th std student, who is an active member of the Dolphin Aquatics Club from Bengaluru, on being asked why she likes swimming, said, “I love challenges and swimming is very challenging and has an element of fun equally; I developed an interest towards it as I was put into swimming classes at the age of 2.”

She credited her club for the professional training that they provide in nurturing young swimmers. She also aims to make swimming an essential part of her life and would love to scale heights in the future.

Nihar Ameen, CEO of Dolphins Aquatics said that his club is blessed to have one of the best facilities and also trains Olympians. Asian Games medallists Sandeep Sejwal and Virdhawal Khade also belong to this club.

Reyan Gada, a 7th std. student from Maharashtra is very passionate about swimming as he keeps saying that he loves water and thus he loves swimming repeatedly. He belongs to the Glenmark Club from Mumbai. He said, “I have been given the best training at my club, as I have foreign coaches, state-of-the-art equipment, in-house gym, nutrition, etc.” He adds that training happens at two places — one in Dadar and the other in Dharavi.” He wasn’t let down by the fact that he had not secured any prizes, as he aimed to learn from this tournament in his overall development as a swimmer.  Young swimmers such as these have taken the competitiveness of swimming to a higher level. The swimming clubs in India have clearly come out with a mission to train young kids in professional swimming. It wouldn’t be a surprise, if such clubs produce some talented swimmers for India in the near future.

‘Dream Big’ is the need of the hour at a very young age, and these kids will leave no stone unturned to make it to a bigger stage. The three day event, which saw participants from various parts of the country, will conclude tomorrow.