At 14, Dhinidhi Desinghu Is Indian Contingent's Youngest Athlete At Paris Olympics

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, a new face emerged, Dhinidhi Desinghu, a 14-year-old teenager from Bengaluru who once feared water and swimming, is now gearing up to represent India in Women's Swimming (200m freestyle category). Her immaculate strokes and precision have earned her seven gold medals at the National Games, a national record in 200m freestyle and participation in the 2022 Asian Games.

From National Games to Paris Games 2024

As a 14-year-old teenager who is representing India at the largest sporting platform, Dhinidhi and her mentors know that the Paris Games are her practice ground and it is essential for her to get used to such an environment. For Dhinidhi as well, she wishes to meet her favourite sports idols, capture pictures and learn from them while honing her skills. At such a young age, she has a lot of potential to unlock and victories to cherish along the way while also being a child which is also crucial.

Her coach and mentors have meticulously planned Dhinidhi's swimming trajectory till the LA Olympics 2028. She currently is training at Dolphin Aquatics in Bangalore under the tutelage of Dronacharya awardee Nihar Ameen and mentored by Madhu Kumar. Mr. Kumar says, "Since she’s been with us here at Dolphins, there’s never a day when she hasn’t worked hard. It’s the passion she has for swimming. She is also ready to make every sacrifice for that.

Dhinidhi herself records and tracks her timings along with the goals she wishes to achieve with her personal best score.

In a recent interview, Dhinidhi Desinghu's parents explained how the young swimmer fast-tracked her journey to the Olympics and how she first was introduced to swimming. Dhinidhi was a shy kid and barely spoke or interacted with kids her age, she couldn't speak until she was three years old. Her parents wanted her to join a sport for the motive of making friends and interacting with kids her age.

As it was, they had a pool near their house and Dhinidhi was introduced to swimming at the age of six. As Dhinidhi recalled her first few experiences during the interview, she mentioned, "But I didn’t like the water, I didn’t want to get in. I couldn’t get my feet into the pool, I couldn’t get my head inside. It was a struggle." Like many young children, Dhinidhi was also quite afraid of pool and swimming; it took her quite some time and support to overcome that fear. She further added how her parents joined her in the experience and would get in the pool with her to make her more comfortable. 

Further in the interview, Dhinidhi's mother recalled how she had trouble handling the pressure and nerves before a competition. To be such a young child and participate in state or national-level competitions needed a lot of courage, strength and hard work. Dhinidhi needed support and love and that is exactly what she got from her parents and coach. Her mother tells Dhinidhi would get sick or vomit the day she had to enter the pool for the competition.

At a state-level competition in Mangalore Dhinidhi and her parents were travelling from bus when they caught motion sickness they recalled, "After reaching there, Dhinidhi said, ‘No, I am scared. I don’t want to swim’. But we had suffered so much to get there so I said we’ll just go to see the pool and then return if she was not up for it. She walked around the pool, turned to me and said, ‘I think I can do it’. She came up with the gold. That’s it. Thereafter, she never had any fever or vomiting before a competition."