It was a different sort of Wednesday for Dhinidhi Desinghu this week. After about six months, the eighth grader from Kendriya Vidyalaya in Bengaluru donned her school uniform and headed out to attend classes. A few of her friends were surprised to notice her after all those weeks and the girls quickly caught up on lost time.
“It’s nice that they treat me normally. And I like to be that way - just like anybody else. I really enjoyed being back at school,” Dhinidhi says.
Such is life for the 13-year-old swimming sensation, who picked up seven gold medals at the recently concluded National Games in Goa. Two of those were individual efforts - the 100 metre and 200 metre freestyle - while the rest came from relays alongside her state mates from Karnataka.
“At the National Games in Rajkot last year, I could get only two events and my target was to simply improve my timing. But this year, I got nine races, so I wanted to see how my training was working for me and if I could sustain so many events without burning out. And I think it went pretty well for me,” Dhinidhi says.
The teenager may seem like a prodigy, cut out for swimming. But it took a while for her affair with the water to blossom. At age six, she was first enrolled for swimming lessons near their home to help her break out of her shell. Those were times when she preferred watching cartoons over playing with friends. But Dhinidhi simply refused to go; since the fees were nonrefundable, her parents decided to learn instead.
“I would simply run away from the pool; I was that scared - never at ease with putting my head in the water. But I got more comfortable with the idea when I saw my parents swimming. I always have a good laugh when people say - oh, you’re such a natural in the water! It was never like that,” Dhinidhi recalls.
Her parents, Jesitha Vijayan and Desinghu Pundi Srinivasan, were delighted at the progress their little girl was making with her social skills and would have left it at that. But her potential in the water was evident and she was soon a regular at the pool. Yet, it was a similar story when it came to competitions. The thought of racing would make her feel uneasy and she would either get sick or simply refuse to jump in the water.
All that changed during one competition. It was a short race, where all they had to do was hold on to a board and work the kick. When she finished third, Dhinidhi knew she wanted more of it.
“I had a lot of friends supporting me and winning that medal did wonders for my confidence. It was my first medal and I still have it,” she says.
By 2019, Dhinidhi was winning the state level meets. Her parents decided to enrol her at Dolphin Aquatics, which is run by renowned coach, Nihar Ameen. It is here that her training got more structured under the watchful eye of Madhukumar BM, who helped her transform into the swimmer she is today.
“I’ve always been an obedient kid, and simply follow what the coach asks me to do. And I do it until I get to a level where I’m satisfied. The workouts are well-planned and customized for each swimmer based on their goals, which is what has helped me improve over the last few years,” Dhinidhi says.
The Covid-19 pandemic brought a halt to all swimming, but by early 2021, Dhinidhi was back to the grind and soon smashing age group records. Then during the summer of last year, the family had a big decision on hand. Chasing excellence in both education and sport was proving to be a task. It was left to Dhinidhi to decide what she wanted to pursue more.
“There were competitions every month and there was no way I could fit in regular school. My parents are engineers who have also been into sports. They know that you cannot be good at everything. So they suggested I continue swimming and just try to maintain a certain standard at school. My grades aren’t great, but then again, they’re not the worst either,” Dhinidhi says.
“I’m still young, so I don’t know if I’ll continue on this path. Because I would love to go to a good college. The dream is to go to MIT someday, enjoy a good student life. But for now, it’s all about swimming and I’ll see where it takes me,” she adds.
The decision paid off, as did the effort Dhinidhi put in at the pool each day. At the Senior National Aquatic Championships in Guwahati this year, she took gold and smashed the national record for the 200 metre freestyle en route.
“I didn’t know any of the senior girls, nor how fast they were. But I didn’t think about it too much. My coach asked me to just go swim, since it was my first senior meet. I didn’t realize how significant that gold was either, until they told me that I was the youngest to go to the meet and break a record. I was just happy to be winning,” she says.
She also made the cut on the Asian Games squad and the team rewrote the national record for the women’s 4x100 freestyle and the 4x200m freestyle relay. Then, at the National Games this month, she was a part of Karnataka’s mixed relay team that set a new national record for the 4x100m freestyle and the 4x100m medley relay.
“More than the record, the mixed freestyle win was sweeter because we could beat Virdhawal Khade. He’s my idol when it comes to Indian swimming for all that he’s achieved. So to race against him and defeat his team was a little bit sweeter,” Dhinidhi says.
With the offseason underway, Dhinidhi finally has time to indulge in things like any other teenager. These days, she’s looking forward to school, group projects, movies, sleepovers and spending time with her grandparents. It’s something that she’s taken in her stride.
“I miss out on a lot of things that other kids do. Besides, it’s a really boring routine when I’m in training, nothing exciting. But that’s what it takes if I want to be the best,” she says.
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