Meet the top para-swimmers of India who can inspire us in many different ways

Suyash Jadhav

India’s only swimmer at this year’s Paralympics lost both his hands in the year 2004 to a loose electric wire. He became the first Indian para-swimmer to have achieved the ‘A’ qualifying mark for 2016 Paralympics in Rio.

“I started taking part in swimming tournaments from the year 2007 and in 2009 I won my first IWAS (International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports) bronze medal in Banglore, it was my first international competition.”

Suyash was unaware of the fact that he could take part in swimming competitions until, 2 years after the tragic incident, a friend of his told him about the para-swimming events. “I was disappointed as I could not get a chance to participate in the Asian Games and Common Wealth Games 2014. I almost gave up swimming for 15 days in 2015. I called up Prasanta Karmakar bhaiyya to give me one chance; he talked to the Secretary of Paralympic Committee of India to send my entry for the Paralympic qualifications held in Russia, where I finally qualified.”

His father was a national level swimmer and has been an inspiration to him. “I am really excited to be able to represent India at the Paralympics. I would like to tell the young swimmers that you should be focused and must work hard till you succeed.”

Niranjan Mukundan

Niranjan who had emerged as the first Indian para-athlete to be crowned as the Junior World Champion 2015, was born with a medical condition called Spina Bifida, he has an incomplete development of the spinal cord and has clubbed feet.

“I am prone to a lot of injuries due to my medical condition. Sometimes I remain out of practice for 3 months at a stretch, that is like a setback for me, but I always used to train my mind and stayed focused and had a never give up attitude which kept me going. One of the most difficult situations was during 2014 Common Wealth Games where I was selected but couldn't take part due to an injury.”

Niranjan won 10 medals at the 11th International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports (IWAS) World Junior Games 2015. “In 2013, GoSports foundation (NGO) joined me in my journey and gave me access to experts(fitness and conditioning, nutrition, physiotherapy) and also took care of my travel expenses, it's been 4 years now with GoSports foundation and they have played a major role in my swimming career.”

Recently he re-created history by bagging 8 medals, which included 3 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze at the IWAS U-23 World Games held in Prague. “The Karnataka state government has recognised me by awarding Ekalavya Award (State's highest civilian Sports award) and Rajyotsava Award (State's highest civilian award). In the year 2016, Speedo (Popular swimwear brand in the world) has signed me up too.”

Currently, Niranjan is ranked no.17 in the world and is training really hard to make it up to the top 10 by the end of the year.