New Delhi [India], November 3(ANI): Dhinidhi Desinghu became the first Indian swimmer to win a medal at the Youth Olympic Games, claiming bronze in the women’s 100m freestyle at Dakar 2026 with a national record time of 56.27 seconds.
The 16-year-old Bengaluru swimmer also secured India’s first medal at the ongoing edition of the Games in Senegal, producing a personal best in the final on Monday to finish behind Croatia’s Ana Bobanovic, who won gold in 55.89 seconds, and New Zealand’s Alyssa Lawson, who took silver in 56.13 seconds, according to Olympics.com.
Dhinidhi finished just 0.14 seconds behind Lawson and 0.38 seconds behind Bobanovic, capping a memorable day for Indian swimming. Earlier, she had become the first Indian female swimmer to qualify for a Youth Olympic Games final.
The achievement is particularly significant given that Dhinidhi’s relationship with swimming began with a fear of water. As a young child, she once ran home from a swimming pool in her swimsuit rather than get into the water.
“I know I was really scared,” Dhinidhi told Olympics.com after winning her medal.
“There’s a story from when I was six or seven… We went to the pool during summer break… I went to the pool and then ran back home in my swimsuit because I just hated being there.”
Her parents had to get into the pool themselves to persuade her to take swimming lessons. The pool’s proximity to their home made it a convenient activity, but neither she nor her family initially expected it to become a competitive pursuit.
“I’m not really sure how I fell in love with swimming, but as the years went by, I grew to love it,” she said.
Dhinidhi’s journey has since taken her to the senior Olympics. At just 14, she was the youngest member of India’s contingent at the Paris 2024 Games, where she experienced competing alongside some of the world’s leading swimmers, including French star Leon Marchand.
She said the experience of sharing the Olympic Village with athletes from different countries and competing in the same pool as swimmers she had previously watched on television was unforgettable.
At Dakar, Dhinidhi clocked 56.80 seconds in the 100m freestyle heats, the third-fastest time overall, to qualify for the final. She then improved by 0.53 seconds to set her national record and claim the podium finish.
“I wasn’t really thinking about a medal. It was mostly about improving my time,” she said.
While pleased with the bronze, Dhinidhi admitted that her competitive instincts meant she had hoped for gold.
“Every athlete comes here to win gold. A medal is a medal, but at the end of the day, everybody is competitive, and everybody wants that gold medal.”
She dedicated the achievement to her parents as well as herself, acknowledging the effort involved in years of early-morning sessions, gym work and daily training.
“I feel like I thank a lot of people, but I sometimes forget to thank myself for going through all of this,” she said.
Dhinidhi hopes the result will be a stepping stone towards her larger ambition of winning an Olympic medal and inspire more girls to take up swimming.
“The people competing here (at the Youth Olympics) are going to be my competitors one day at future Olympics. Winning a medal here shows that maybe, if I keep this steady pace going, I could win a medal at the Olympics,” she said. (ANI)
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