Youth Olympics 2026: Swimming for his late father, Tirthank Pegu registers India's best-ever performance

Tirthank Pegu delivered the India's best-ever swimming performance at the Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal on Sunday.

The 16-year-old swimmer from Assam clocked 54.98 seconds in the final, to finish fourth by just 0.27 microseconds in men's 100m butterfly.

He is only the second Indian swimmer to advance to the final after Srihari Natraj finished sixth in the men’s 100m backstroke final in 2018.

Tirthank will also be competing in the men’s 200m Butterfly, his stronger event, on November 6.

Speaking to The Bridge from Dakar, on his aim for a sub-2 minutes swim, Tirthank said, “Last year I swam at the Asian Youth Games and clocked my personal best of 2:02s. After that my coach helped me train mentally and worked on my stroke. This year in Singapore, I swam 2 minutes in 200m butterfly which really boosted my confidence.”

“I trained the whole year only for this meet. We missed major tournaments and this one is important for me. I want to swim sub 2 minutes and do a national record here,” he said.

The beginning

Tirthank’s journey into sports started with a random visit to a swimming pool with his uncle at the age of 4.

But despite years of swimming, the sport felt like a burden. It was his father who kept pushing him to continue.

“I was 4 when my uncle took me to the only good 50m pool in Assam then. The pool looked so blue, I wanted to swim. My uncle enrolled me in the academy. For some years i went with the flow swimming six months and taking break for the next six,” he said.

It was only after Tirthank stepped out of the comfort of his hometown that he began to take things seriously.

“After many years, I was still not interested. Swimming was a burden for me. My father would push me towards it. But when I turned 16, I realised it was time to get focussed. I came to Delhi and that's when I felt it was serious,” he shared.

Today, Tirthank is chasing his father’s dream.

“He was my motivation to swim. Whenever I get negative thoughts that I can’t swim or it is for me, I just think of the sacrifices I made at a young age,” he said.

The work behind the scences

Tirthank currently trains under Asian Games medalist turned coach Sandeep Sejwal. The duo have been working on a lot of underwater techniques.

Before that Tirthank trained in Spain for 3 weeks followed by another three in Scotland.

"After junior nationals, we have been trying new things about my stroke so I don’t get fatigued in the first 100m. It’s been about underwater and breath control so I can complete 15m underwater in each lap,” he highlighted.

Dhinidhi Desinghu will also be in action in women’s 100m, 200m freestyle and 200m Individual medley.

Meanwhile, coach Sandeep Sejwal is optimistic that the exposure will give them clarity ahead of next editions Asian Games and Commonwealth Games in Ahmedabad.

“Its a very big platform for these 2 young athletes to experience what it feels like to compete with world class athletes their age. Making the podium depends on how they feel on the race day. But being here, staying with athletes and seeing them. Even if they are able to be in the top 8, they will be able to see more clearly where they stand for the next Asian Games and CWG in Ahmedabad,” Sejwal said.