Hyderabad: Dhinidhi Desinghu, a 14-year-old swimmer from Bengaluru, is the youngest member of the Indian contingent at the Paris Olympics 2024. The teenager will compete in the 200-meter freestyle division on a universality quota. However, the young girl was once scared of water, and even after learning to swim, she struggled with pressure. “It was not easy; even after she got comfortable with water, Dhinidhi had trouble handling the pressure,” her mother told the Indian Express.
Dhinidhi began her swimming classes at the age of six, and it was a challenging journey. Her parents decided to enroll her in a sport because she was unable to speak until she was three and had grown fearful of approaching others. But Dhinidhi has overcome these challenges and is now the youngest female swimmer to win seven national gold medals. Her mother, Jesitha, credited Dhinidhi’s transition from an under-pressure swimmer to a medal winner to a state-level open competition in Mangalore. “After that, she never had any problems with undue pressure before a competition,” Jesitha told the Indian Express. Meanwhile, the Paris La Defense Arena will host the swimming events for the Paris Olympics 2024, where the world’s top swimmers, including Dhinidhi Desinghu, will compete from July 26 to August 11.
