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A collection of stories of sports champions, adventure heroes & inspiring news from the world of sports & adventure.
Divya Guruswamy: Swimming to Shores of Success
“You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get”, Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, had said. In the following words, unfurls the story of a swimmer, who has swam her way to shores of glory and has made quite a name for herself. She has in her collection, about 97 gold medals, 90 silver medals and 36 bronze medals, until now, and the numbers are only to increase further.

Divya has also managed her academics extremely well. She was also one of the toppers for her state, Karnataka in her 12th board exams. “There are 24 hours for everyone. It is upto each one as to how they manage their time. If one has passion immensely, it is very easy to do well”, says Divya.
Her first stint at a competitive level happened with a bit of incredulity when she was to compete with a higher age group, due to some misunderstanding. Finishing at a decent place in the same made her realise her potential in the sport. Breaststroke, being one of the toughest strokes in swimming, became her forte. She also has broken long standing state level and national level 50m breaststroke records in her career yet.

Having jumped into the pool first when in her 1st grade, she attended her first state level tourney during her 5th grade. Having come at the 2nd place, she soon was sent to compete in the national level tournament. She made a drastic improvement from edging with fractions of a second in the state meets to a comfortable 4-5 seconds head in the nationals. She also attended the national meets for consecutive years from 2006 to 2013. Currently, Divya swims for her college, and is also the captain for the team. Pursuing her 4th year in engineering at BMS College of Engineering, she has won many laurels at the university meets, for her college.

Having broken a record first at the age of about 10 years, Divya trained hard at the pool. Her day started with getting up early and heading to the pool at 5:30 in the morning. She was also required at go back to the pool, after school at around 5 in the evening, which would many a times even stretch upto 9 in the night. This girl with a never-give-up attitude had this to say when I asked her about the factor in her she thinks has taken her to glory- “I am a very determined person. I knew that swimming and academics had to go in sync, and I strived to keep it that way. I also know my limitations and I work to push beyond them”.

Speaking with one who has won so much, I had my eyebrows raised when Divya declared that she still hasn’t achieved anything and has a long way to go. “I only have very short term goals set. The backing and belief of my parents and coach in me helps me a lot. I always believe that I still have a very long way to go”.
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As Dennis Redman said, “This life is like a swimming pool. You dive into the water, but can’t see how deep it is”. Divya’s is one story with immense grit and time-management that can tell the crowd that it isn’t impossible to carry and balance more than just one plate in your hand.Copyrights © 2023 Inspiration Unlimited eMagazine
Any facts, figures or references stated here are made by the author & don't reflect the endorsement of iU at all times unless otherwise drafted by official staff at iU. This article was first published here on 24th July 2017.