4 . What was the biggest challenge you faced on your journey ? Other than the obvious challenges that comes with practising such a mentally and physically taxing sport , the injury I endured in 2019 was very problematic for me . In such a physically demanding sport , you are bound to experience a lot of muscle pain , and you are constantly told to push through the pain . You will have a high risk of getting injured .
It ’ s really challenging because it ’ s a very fine line between pushing through the pain and knowing when to take it easy . Many swimmers and athletes go through this . You find yourself thinking , “ Is this pain valid enough ? Should I take this seriously , or am I just being lazy ?”
So there was a lot of self-doubt . Not to mention the amount of work you need to do after an injury to recover and get back on track . That was one of the biggest challenges I have faced .
5 . Who are the ones who helped you most on your journey ? My parents , my sister , my coach Santhosh Sir , Bhagya Ma ’ am who introduced me to the sport , and my swimming friends have all helped me endlessly . The support , appreciation and recognition I have received from school and my teachers have helped me so much with balancing academics with swimming . I am extremely grateful and thankful for that , and I know that I would not have been able to achieve so much without them .
6 . At such a young age , you have already achieved so much . How do you manage to stay motivated and on track ? What keeps you going ? As mentioned before , I don ’ t take a lot of motivation from what I have achieved . Instead , I take motivation from how I want to feel content from swimming every day . But the truth is that I don ’ t always feel good about swimming . In fact , there are more days I feel bad about it than good .
Staying consistent even on the days I don ’ t feel like trying is never easy , but just making it to practise everyday , even if it is not my best effort , makes a huge difference . Doing that is what is going to get you far .
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