Inspire Institute of Sport partners with Mizuho Bank to support 30 swimmers
This programme will provide Indian swimmers with technical coaching and competition exposure among other things.
Left to right: Arilson Chmpam, Head Swim coach; Divyanshu Singh, COO-JSW Sports, Rushdee Warley, CEO IIS; Maana Patel, Swimmer; Kushagra Rawat, Swimmer; Piyush Agarwal, Sr. Managing Director & Head Corporate and Institutional Banking (India); Parth Jindal, Founder IIS. (Photo credit: The Bridge)
The Inspire Institute of Sport, on Wednesday, announced a partnership with Japan's Mizuho Bank Ltd to support 30 high-potential swimmers in India. The programme has been named 'Mizuho High Performance Swimming Programme'.
This is India's first privately funded High-Performance Training Centre and India’s largest Olympic Sports development programme, providing 100 per cent scholarships to over 800 talented athletes across centres located in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Manipur.
The swimming programme of the Inspire Institute of Sport, launched in 2023, has two state-of-the-art pools, allowing swimmers access to its High-Performance Center, Hostels and Learning Centre.
Swimmers and officials pose for a photograph at the Mizuho High-Performance Swimming Programme. (Photo credit: The Bridge)
Talented young swimmers Maana Patel, Kushagra Rawat, Ishaan Mehra, Astha Choudhury, Ashmitha Chandra and Bikram Changmai are among those part of the Mizuho Elite Swimming Programme.
Through the programme, the athletes are provided with technical coaching and competition exposure, coupled with support around sports science, strength and conditioning, nutrition, education, mental health, and residential facilities.
'Matter of immense pride'
Talking about the partnership, Parth Jindal, the founder of IIS, said, "For an organisation as large as Mizuho Bank to choose to support the Inspire Institute of Sport is a matter of immense pride for all of us. It is moments like these that put a spring in our steps in our quest to make India a sporting superpower.
"The power of sport shines through in their belief in our swimming programme, and I am really excited to see what the future holds,” he added.
Rushdee Warley, CEO of the IIS, said, "This partnership underlines our joint effort and commitment to contribute to the development of swimming in India, and Mizuho’s support will go a long way in helping us raise the bar."
"The growth and success we have seen in a short period of time is unprecedented, and I am certain that this will prove to be a watershed moment in Indian sport,” he added.
"Our purpose is to ‘Proactively innovate together with our clients for a prosperous and sustainable future’. Our fundamental approach to all our activities is to operate responsibly. We are honoured to partner with IIS, who were our partner of choice for the first ever Sports CSR investment in India as we share their vision of developing and nurturing Indian talent to succeed in the world of international sports," said Piyush Agarwal, Senior Managing Director and Head, Corporate and Institutional Banking (India).
The IIS’s expertise in swimming also extends to its satellite centre in Odisha, where over 4000 young swimmers are impacted through the ‘Learn to Swim’ programme, in partnership with the Odisha Government.