SHASHWAT GUPTA RAY
shashwat@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: In what can be called as stroke of fate, a fall in the diving section of Campal swimming pool facility 10 years ago at the age of 3, led to the birth of a future swimming champion in 13-year-old Aarohi Borde.
Aarohi was just three-year-old, when she unknowingly fell into the diving section of the Campal swimming pool facility in Panjim. While the life guards rushed to her safety, instead of panicking, the toddler managed to come out of the deep pool herself.
Following this incident, her parents thought she would be scared of water. But she actually got enamoured with the pool and embraced swimming like a duck takes to water.
Now, 10 years down the line, with her perseverance and hard work, the youngster has grown into a junior swimming champion. She recently won gold and silver at the 68th National School Swimming Championships held in Rajkot, Gujarat, in the 200m and 100m butterfly race respectively, in U-14 girls category.
“Aarohi was a toddler. She used to come with me to pick up her elder sister from the Campal swimming pool facility, who was learning to swim at that time. One day she unknowingly fell into the diving section of the pool, which is very deep. Surprisingly, she managed to come out by herself. In fact, rather than getting scared of water, she insisted upon entering the pool,” Aarohi’s mother Sumedha Desai said.
The trainers were initially reluctant to train Aarohi as she was too small.
“But then they relented seeing her passion for the sport at such a young age. She trained from 3.30 pm to 7.30 pm. Then national level champion Afra Sheikh took Aarohi under her wings,” Sumedha said.
Aarohi gradually participated and won swimming competitions as a toddler. Today, she is 13 and an established junior level swimming champion. But to reach this level, she had to toil hard, especially after finishing seventh in the 66th National School Games (NSG) held in Delhi last year.
“After my performance in Delhi, my coach Sujit sir (Sujit TA) modified my training and instilled confidence in me. This resulted in me winning two medals this year,” she said.
She trained for six hours daily – three hours each in morning and evening. A student of ShardaMandir School, she balanced between her studies and practice by waking up at 4 am daily. She would first practice and then go to school.
But even after training so hard, her participation at the Rajkot games seemed doubtful as she had a very high fever on the eve of the competition.
“We were mulling withdrawing from the competition as her fever was not subsiding. It was her grit, motivation from her coach Sujith, tele consultation with her paediatrician Dr MadhavWagle and support from parents of other children that helped her compete and win two medals,” Sumedha said.
She thanked the Campal pool staff, including in-charge Albert Dourado and Coach DayanandPatil.
“I also thank Sports Minister, Executive Director Sports Authority of Goa and Director of Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs for getting Sujith sir to Goa. His coaching method has helped me immensely,” she said.
Looking ahead, Aarohi wants to do well at upcoming junior nationals and work harder.