“The water doesn’t know how old you are,” wrote eminent US swimmer, 12-time Olympic medallist Dara Torres.
A.V. Jayaveena took to swimming at the age of three, to the amazement of many, as if the words were hers. In fact, the 17-year-old is the youngest swimmer to win a medal at the National Games, a feat that she achieved in 2011 at Ranchi. “Even now, at competitions, I get introduced as the proud owner of that record,” says a beaming Jayaveena.
The reigning State champion, who has a well-known actor for a father, clinched three gold medals, including a new National mark in the women’s 100m breaststroke, at the senior National aquatics championship in Rajkot recently.
The love affair with the sport, that began at three, turned into a marriage with professionalism when she joined the Turtles Swim School in 2008 and came under the tutelage of B. Girish — her coach till date. It was then that she became more streamlined.
“I became more nuanced and competent. For instance, I realised the importance of a good start for a race could be lost and won in microseconds. Like how I missed a bronze in the 50m freestyle by 0.2 seconds in this competition (at Ranchi).”
She grasped the intricacies involved in the different strokes that rendered her versatile. “I learnt the different stroke techniques and started competing in breaststroke, freestyle and individual medley.”
Fruitful trip to Australia
The only swimmer among the five sportspersons shortlisted by the State government for the ‘Elite Sportspersons Scholarship’ scheme, she attended a two-month training camp in Australia last month.
“It was there that I learnt more about the method involved in ‘track start’. This start is such that you have your legs one behind the other and dive in with the thrust provided by the hind-leg as opposed to having your legs close together and using both to get a kick in. Until then I was practising the latter.”
Constancy is as essential and inevitable as evolution for a sportsperson to excel. That’s why practice and fitness routine hasn’t changed for the past seven years now, despite having to focus on academics too.
“I practise for three hours, both in the morning and evening, apart from a two-hour fitness session,” says the class XII student of Chettinad Vidyashram School.
“The public attention and response have increased. More youngsters have started coming into the sport. My primary aim to compete in the Olympics,” she said.
(A weekly look at the Chennai sporting scene)