Sailors Varun, Ganapathy interact with students in 'Meet the Champions' campaign

Indian sailors and Olympians KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar kicked off Prime Minister Narendra Modi's school visit campaign in Tamil Nadu's Rameshwaram on Thursday. The duo visited Vivekananda Vidyalaya Higher Secondary School and interacted with the students.

Besides students of the host school, student representatives of 75 schools from three districts of Tamil Nadu also attended the event.

Asian Championships gold medalists Varun and Ganapathy spoke to children about the importance of having a balanced and nutritious diet. They stressed on building strong immunity and muscles that are important in the life of an athlete.

Read: Parlympian Sharad Kumar to interact with kids under "Meet the Champions" initiative

Varun got the students to share their sports resolution for the year 2022 and discussed their experiences with students and upcoming athletes as well.

Olympians Varun, Ganapathy emphasize on fitness, diet

During the visit, both Varun and Ganapathy interacted with the students in Tamil and English to ensure all children in attendance understood the importance of having a balanced diet and fitness. The duo also promoted badminton, a popular sport in the region.

The duo also showed the students a few basic muscle strengthening exercises which are important to have as a sailor.

interacts with students at Sanskardham

The unique initiative is part of the government’s ‘Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav," which was started by Tokyo Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra.

'Meet the Champions' initiative is a unique school visit campaign that, is jointly being organized by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

During their visit, the Olympians share their experiences, life lessons, tips on diet and be an inspiration for school children.

While both Varun and Ganapathy met and guided students to keep the momentum of the 'Meet the Champions' initiative going, the school management made sure that the school students followed strict COVID-19 appropriate protocols and wore masks at all times during the Olympians' short visit.

They also made sure that all students sat at least two meters away from each other and thus avoided physical contact with other students.