Dhinidhi Desinghu - Meet India’s youngest Olympian at Paris games

Dhinidhi Desinghu - Meet India’s youngest Olympian at Paris games

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, July 26, 2024: India’s teenage swimming sensation Dhinidhi Desinghu will make her Olympics debut at the upcoming Summer Games in Paris, France. Ahead of the Paris Olympics, Dhinidhi shed light on her initial struggles, and recalled how she didn’t like to get inside a swimming pool. Fast forward to 2024, the 14-year-old made it in women’s 200m freestyle on a universality quota. Dhinidhi also revealed that her parents to involve her in a sport and swimming was an obvious choice as they had a pool right next to their home.

"But I didn’t like the water, I didn’t want to get in. I couldn’t get my feet into the pool, I couldn’t get my head inside. It was a struggle. I was six back then. When I returned the next year, I was still too scared," Dhinidhi told the Indian Express.

"In fact, before I learnt how to swim, my parents did so. They got into the pool to make me feel comfortable and that is how it all started.

Dhinidhi, who trains at Dolphin Aquatics in Bengaluru, also revaled that she did not even understanding the basic terms of swimming when she was first introduced to the sport.

"I knew the strokes... backstroke, breaststroke, and (butter) fly. But that was all I knew. There were all these kids who were around 13. And then there was one like me, just nine years old. I was scared to ask for help. I didn’t know what to do," she added.

Dhinidhi’s mother Jesitha also recalled an incident when her daughter was just eight-years-old, and how it helped in overcoming her fears.

"I knew she had the talent. She does very well in the pool. But then at competitions, she felt the pressure. Either she would fall sick the previous day with a fever or she would vomit when she got to the pool for the event."

"I just decided to book a bus ticket. I too have motion sickness and we were continuously vomiting throughout. After reaching there, Dhinidhi said, ’no, I am scared. I don’t want to swim’. But we had suffered so much to get there so I said we’ll just go to see the pool and then return if she was not up for it. She walked around the pool, turned to me and said, ’I think I can do it’. She came up with the gold. That’s it. Thereafter, she never had any fever or vomiting before a competition," Jesitha recalled.

Dhinidhi currently holds the national record in women’s 200m freestyle. In terms of international exposure, she has been to the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.