Olympic medal is young swimmer's dream

A very strong stroke became a weapon for Shriya who became the State swimming champion at a tender age. The 12-year old Shriya Ishwar Prasad and her family stay in R.A. Puram. Mother Laavanya was a nationally ranked tennis player and father a kho kho player and marathon runner. The parents had somehow fixed swimming as their elder daughter’s sport. But when she was first put in the water, Shirya used to get scared. Her grandmother and the father played a role in helping her get over her initial fear.

Shriya seemed to understand the mechanics of the breaststroke very well and she started mastering it. A student of KC High in Navalur, Shriya started swimming seriously at the age of five with The Madras Club, Chennai. The school helped her to focus on her swimming career along with her bright performance in academics too.

K. Mukundan, a highly regarded national coach, has been working on the young swimmer in the last two years.  He was the first to identify the breaststroke to be the strongest attribute in Shriya that would have dragged her towards championship. He made her confident about her skills and pushed her into accepting greater challenges. Her younger sister, 8-year-old Shakti, has proved to be a great source of strength and support for Shriya.  Shakti is a state-level swimmer now.

“Because, she is also a huge stress buster for Shriya, just spending time with Shakti makes Shriya relax after a tiring training regimen while she gets also inspired by her elder sister,” mother Laavanya shared while talking over the nice bonding between her daughters.

Shriya bagged two national championship gold medals in the 50 m breaststroke category, winning both the Under-10 and Under-12 events at the sub-junior nationals held in Bangalore and Pune.  She had won her first brace of silver medals at the age of seven in the State short course competition conducted at Dolphin Academy, Chennai. Having learnt the basics at The Madras Club, Shriya settled in 2016 at ORCA Club and is continuing there under the mentorship of Mukundan.

Shriya set multiple State records and the South Zone record in breaststroke under Mukundan’s guidance. This year, she won the silver medal in the 100 m breaststroke at the Pune nationals, missing gold by a very narrow margin. She also played a pivotal role in Tamil Nadu winning the silver medal in the team medley relay this year. In the State selections for this year's nationals, she set two state records in the 50 m and 100 m breaststroke events, rewriting a 10-year-old state record held by A.V. Jayaveena.

The one thing Shriya has learnt to give up is all her favourite desserts. Her rigorous training schedule runs from 5 am to 7.15 am and again from 5:15 pm to 7 pm) six days a week. Her spare time is mostly taken up with reading and listening to music. She believes music calms her nerves for competition.

Shriya's dream is to represent India in the Olympics. “I want to swim for the country and win a medal for India in the Olympic one day,” the passionate swimming champion declared.