BENGALURU: Indian swimming has a new milestone to celebrate, and Bengaluru talent Dhinidhi Desinghu is at the heart of it. The 16-year-old became the first swimmer from the country to win a medal at the Youth Olympic Games, claiming bronze in the women’s 100m freestyle in Dakar, Senegal, on Monday.While Dhinidhi had set her sights on gold and a sub-55-second finish, her podium finish was a historic achievement for Indian swimming. Croatia’s Ana Bobanovic took gold in 55.89 seconds, while New Zealand’s Alyssa Lawson claimed silver in 56.13 seconds.The performance had been building momentum from the heats. Dhinidhi clocked 56.80 seconds to finish third-fastest overall and become the first Indian female swimmer to qualify for a Youth Olympics final. She carried that form into the final.“I’m very happy but also at a loss for words. In the heats, my timing went below 57. I’ve never had a time below 57 in the event, and I knew something special would happen,” she told TOI.Going into the final, there was a mix of nerves and confidence. The conditions, too, worked in her favour. “Generally, when I swim outdoors, and it’s hot and humid, I swim better, because the conditions are similar to what it is back home,” she said.The result, however, was initially not quite what she had hoped for. “When I touched the pad and saw the timing, I wasn’t very happy. I wanted to win gold and I wanted my time to break 55, but didn’t achieve either. But slowly it sank in – I am India’s first swimmer to win a medal at the Youth Olympics and that does mean something special,” added the teenager, who trains under Nihar Ameen.The win’s significance went beyond the medal itself. Dhinidi believes her podium finish is a breakthrough for women’s swimming in the country.“I think what makes it more special is that it’s a woman who has given India its first medal in swimming in the competition. It will mean a lot for women’s swimming because we’re not at the same level as the men. This will make it a memorable chapter in women’s swimming in our country and help in the growth of our sport,” she said.She is the third Indian to reach a final at the competition, after two-time Olympian Srihari Nataraj, who made the final in 2018, and Tirthank Pegu, who is competing in the ongoing edition.But milestones are nothing new to her. Dhinidhi was just 14 when she made her Olympic debut at Paris 2024, becoming the youngest member of the Indian contingent. She had also represented India at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou and the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha.For now, the triumph is still sinking in.“It (medal) will take some time to sink in. After Paris, it took a couple of years to sink in that I was an Olympian. So, it is safe to say this will take a long time to sink in,” she signed off.
