Odisha Swimmers Dive into Success with Medal Haul in South Africa!

Bhubaneswar: Swimmers from Odisha, Shristi Upadhaya and Mannata Mishra, have recently made a splash at the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Short Course Swimming Championships in South Africa, where they achieved new best performances for India in the women’s 100m butterfly and 100m breaststroke events, respectively.

Shristi Upadhaya achieved a time of 1:02.53, surpassing the previous record of 1:02.78 set by Divya Satija, while Mannata Mishra secured the top Indian performance in the 100m breaststroke by timing 1:12.90, exceeding Chahat Arora’s 1:13.13.

As part of a 14-member squad, which consisted of 11 swimmers chosen from the Odisha IIS Swimming High Performance Centre for a two-week training camp at TuksSport High Performance Centre in Pretoria, the Odisha swimmers excelled in the provincial championships, securing a total of 31 medals, including nine gold medals.

Training under the guidance of Sandeep Sejwal, an Asian Games medalist and Arjuna award recipient, at the Odisha IIS Swimming High-Performance Centre (HPC), the athletes have exhibited steady advancement, and exposure events like this will only enhance their development.

Sejwal articulates, “To cultivate champions, we need to foster an environment conducive to their success, which is why HPC serves a crucial role. At this event, we also achieved the first National Record for the Odisha swimmers, and we anticipate this will significantly inspire the broader swimming community in Odisha as athletes will begin to believe that they too can become national and international champions like Shristi and Mannata.”

Apart from Shristi and Mannata, 11-year-old Shreyasi Das from Bhubaneswar secured five medals in the six events she competed in, including three gold medals. This marked her inaugural international experience and contest, and this achievement serves as a tremendous confidence booster for the young swimmer.

She began her journey at just seven years old by enrolling in a summer camp at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. In a brief amount of time, Shreyasi demonstrated her potential by winning seven medals at the State Aquatics Championship and earning a silver medal in the 100m Breaststroke event at the Sub-Junior National Aquatics Championship earlier this year.

Reflecting on her daughter’s progress, her mother, Smita Das, stated, “For the past eight months, the Odisha IIS Swimming High-Performance Centre has been her training base, and look at how it’s unfolding. She has gained international training exposure (in South Africa), is part of the main squad, and has medaled in five of the six events she participated in. The HPC approaches training very professionally, providing physiotherapy and other support staff. They also conduct routine health assessments to keep track of the swimmers’ progress and health.”

Before being selected to train at the Odisha IIS Swimming HPC, Shreyasi had already been training at Kalinga Stadium’s Aquatic Centre and perfecting her skills. According to her mother, she is aiming to improve her performance and secure a regular spot in the Indian National squad by 2025, with aspirations to partake in more international competitions.

(ANI)

Also Read: BJD commemorates its 28th foundation day today in Odisha, with Naveen Patnaik set to address party members