Dhinidhi Desinghu: Eyes on Paris and beyond

Dhinidhi Desinghu, the 14-year-old sensation is set to represent India at the Paris Olympics in the 200m Freestyle Swimming having grabbed the universality quota with Srihari Nataraj.

At Paris, Desinghu will be the youngest in the Indian contingent.

However, the record for the youngest Indian Olympian still belongs to swimmer Aarti Saha, who at the tender age of 11, participated at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.

That said, Desinghu has been making rapid strides after she shot to the limelight by winning the 200m Freestyle at the 76th Senior National Aquatic Championships in Hyderabad last year clocking 2:04.24, an Indian National record.

The making of a champion

Dhinidhi was born to Bengaluru-based Engineers, Desinghu Pundi Srinivasan and Jesitha Vijayan.

The duo was always inclined towards sports and naturally, Dhinidhi took to sport like duck to water.

When she was six, Dhinidhi's parents enrolled her to swimming lessons as a way to wean her away from cartoons and to help her garner social skills. Dhinidhi, however, refused, citing a fear for water.

Since the fees of the swimming classes were non-refundable the parents insisted that Dhinidhi fight her fear.

With both parents in the vicinity of the pool, Dhinidhi took her first plunge.

Dhinidhi's parents, recognizing her ability in the pool, introduced her to competitive swimming, again as a means to challenge her.

Overwhelmed by the pressure, she experienced competition anxiety and was reluctant to compete.

However, everything changed when she won a bronze medal in a race.

This victory fueled her desire for more success, and she began excelling in state-level competitions.

Witnessing her progress, her parents decided that the time had come to take the next step in her swimming career.

Rise to prominence

Dhinidhi's next stop was the Dolphin Aquatics run by the Dronacharya Award winner coach Nihar Ameen.

She enrolled in 2019 and was placed under the supervision of Madhukumar BM.

Technical training ensured that she progressed rapidly and the in no time, the results began to show.

Dhinidhi broke the sub-junior national record in the 200m freestyle clocking 2:14.94 at the 37th sub-junior national in Bengaluru. She bettered the record by a margin of 2.58 seconds.

In total Dhinidhi broke 3 sub-junior national records at the meet - 200m freestyle, 200m medley, and 100m freestyle.

The following year at the 38th sub-junior nationals in Bhubaneswar, Dhinidhi grabbed 5 medals including 3 golds and 2 silvers. This time she sank 2 sub-junior nationals record in the 50m butterfly and 100m butterfly respectively.

At just 12 years-of-age, Dhinidhi was already showing serious signs of promise.

At the 75th National Swimming Championships 2022, Dhinidhi won the 200m freestyle in 2:09.29s. A sub-junior champion a few months back was now roaring at the senior national circuit.

She further bettered her personal best to 2:07:89 in the 2022 National Games in Rajkot, clinching a silver there.

The following year, Dhinidhi returned with a national record performance at the 76th senior nationals swimming championship in Hyderabad clocking 2:04:24 in the 200m freestyle.

This performance earned her a ticket to the Hangzhou Asian Games where she participated in the 200m freestyle, 4*100 freestyle, and 4*200 freestyle relay.

"We got to see so many world-class swimmers from so many different countries in Asia and it made us realize how much further we need to get at Indian Swimming", Dhinidhi said to The Bridge on her experience at Hangzhou.

Overseas exposure

Dhinidhi continued her good run in the forthcoming 2023 National Games in Goa where she bagged 7 Gold medals - 2 in individual events (100m freestyle and 200m freestyle) and 5 in relay events.

As a result of all this, Dhinidhi participated in her first World Aquatics Championships held in Doha, Qatar in February 2024.

Soon, the teenager was a regular at overseas meets in an attempt to garner international experience.

She participated in the 11th Asian Age Group Swimming Championships in the Philippines right after the world championships and at the 100m freestyle, she finished just out of the medals at 57.33 time.

Further, her caravan moved deeper into the Southeast Asian countries.

She took part in the 54th Singapore Age Group and 59th Malaysia Age Group events and won a flurry of medals, surprising the opposition.

Just after turning fourteen, she embarked on a journey to the Mare Nostrum Canet 2024 Tour and swam in France and Monaco, this gave her a further taste of international exposure.

Later, Dhinidhi bagged a bronze in the 19th Singapore Swimming Championships at the 200m freestyle and accumulated enough points for the IOC Tripartite committee to hand her with a universality quota.

Major Achievements

• 37th Sub-Junior Nationals Championships Bengaluru: 4 gold medals (200m freestyle, 200m medley, 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke)
• 48th Junior Nationals Championship Bhubaneswar: 4 gold medals (100m freestyle, 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly, 4x200m freestyle relay)
• 75th Senior National Championships Guwahati: 3 gold medals (200m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle)
• 36th National Games Rajkot: 1 gold medal(4x200m freestyle relay) and 1 silver medal (200m freestyle)
• Khelo India Youth Games Bhopal: 1 gold medal(4x200m freestyle relay) and 2 silver medals ( 200m freestyle and 4x100 freestyle)
• 53rd Singapore Age Group: 2 bronze medals (100m freestyle and 200m butterfly)
  
• 76th Senior Nationals Championship Hyderabad: 2 gold medals (200m freestyle, national record and 4x200m freestyle relay)
• 37th National Games Goa: 7 gold medals (2 individual: 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 5 relay events)
• 49th Junior National Championships Bhubaneswar: 4 gold medals (100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay, 4x100m relay- freestyle and medley)
• 54th Singapore Age Group: 3 gold medals (100m freestyle, 200m freestyle and 400m freestyle)
• 59th Malaysia Age Group: 2 gold medals (200m freestyle and 200m medley)
• 19th Singapore Swimming Championships: 1 bronze medal (200m freestyle).

As she embarks on her Olympic journey, inspired by her idol Katie Ledecky who won the 800m freestyle Olympic Gold at just age 15, Dhinidhi's story serves as an inspiration to aspiring athletes across India, proving that with dedication and hard work, even the most daunting dreams can be realized.

With her sights set on Paris and beyond, Dhinidhi Desinghu is a name that will undoubtedly continue to make waves in the world of swimming.