Meet State and National Swimming Medalist

In September this year, Aanya from Grade 6 participated in the Karnataka State Swim meet in Bangalore. In the swimming competition, she took part in five events and won a silver and a bronze medal in the 50m breaststroke and the 50 backstroke. After this, Aanya qualified to represent Karnataka in the 37th SFI Sub Junior National Swimming meet which took place in Bangalore in October. There she participated in the 50m breaststroke event and won the silver medal. We reached out to Aanya to find out more about her passion for swimming and her plans for the future.  

Honestly, the goal was to try and do my personal best in every competition – Aanya, Grade 6 

Aanya picked up swimming in the age of three to four years old. Part of what motivated her was the Swimming Gala races in Grade 1 at TISB. She became a competitive swimmer in 2019, where her coaches saw her potential which motivated her to believe in herself and her abilities. This pushed her to continue training and improving her skills. 

Being driven by her family, coaches and practice, Aanya decided to join the Karnataka State Swim meet, a contest with strong competitors from all over the state. “It was a privilege to also be able to qualify and participate in the National meet and compete with the best in the country”, says Aanya, who has moved to Dolphins Aquatics swimming team this year. 

Winning the silver and bronze medals at the state level motivated Aanya and allowed her to move forward. "The Silver medal allowed me to qualify for the Indian National meet and represent my state, Karnataka, in the 50m Breaststroke event”, says Aanya, who wore the Karnataka Jersey – a great and proud moment. “I feel on top of the world and cannot believe I actually finished 2nd amongst participants from the whole country, which was totally unexpected!”, says Aanya, who train swimming twice per day, about 20-25 hours per week.  

Being a sportsperson and balancing her swimming with school has taught her to pull herself up and come back stronger after failures. “I want to continue training, keep getting stronger and better one day at a time and I dream of eventually representing my country at the Olympics someday”, says Aanya. “I also want to thank all my teachers in PY and Grade 6, PY Principals, Mr Tarun, Mr Shantanu, Dr Sindhu and TISB for being so supportive.”