Purvi Naik along with her coach TA Sujith
PANAJI
Goa's Purvi Ritesh Naik put up a brilliant performance to bag 4 medals - 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze, at the recently held 40th Sub-junior National Aquatic Championship in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha.
The 11-year old girl from Harvalem, Sanquelim, emerged as the fastest female swimmer of the meet in the sub-junior category when she won the gold in 50m freestyle with a timing of 30.70 seconds. Apart from that, she also won 2 silver medals in 100m freestyle and 400m freestyle and a bronze in 200m freestyle.
“I joined the Khelo India Centre in Nov 2022 wherein I had given selection trials through which I got selected. The decision proved to be game-changer for me. That was the first time I met Sujith Sir. He is a national record holder, winner of multiple international medals in swimming and very experienced coach. Thanks to his vast experience and guidance, he not only helped me improve upon my strokes but also my timings,” said Purvi.
“My timings were not that good when I joined the Khelo India Centre. I used to swim 100m freestyle in about 1 minute 41 seconds and 50m freestyle in about 42-43 seconds which was really bad. There were also flaws in my technique which Sujith Sir helped me to rectify.
Under his guidance, it has worked wonders for me. In the last 20 months, I have improved my timings by about 30-35 seconds in 100m freestyle and about 12-13 seconds in 50m freestyle. I want to improve it even further now, “ she said.
But, the journey won’t be easy from here onwards. In the years to come, if Purvi has to be among the best swimmers in the country in the senior category in the 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle category, she has to clock around 26-27 seconds in 50m freestyle and around 58-59 seconds in 100m freestyle.
“Purvi is a very hard working and dedicated girl”, said her coach TA Sujith who himself was India’s fastest swimmer from 1998-2008.
“Her training schedule is quite rigorous. It starts at 4:45 AM – 7:00 AM in the morning at the Peddem swimming pool in Mapusa and 4:00 PM – 7:30 PM at the Campal swimming pool in Panaji every day. Even on Sundays or Public Holidays, training is there. Wednesdays are half-day. Even when it rains, training continues. However, on festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali, and Christmas holidays are given,” said the coach.
Purvi’s achievements are noteworthy because despite her toe injury just a month prior to her sub-junior nationals in Bhubaneswar, Odisha from 06 - 11 August due to which she could not practice properly, she went on to win 4 medals. She just fell short of her fifth medal as she finished fifth in 50m butterfly.
It is also worth noting that after many years a Goan swimmer who has trained in Goa itself has won gold at the nationals either in sub-junior, junior or senior category. And, much of this credit goes to her coach TA Sujith along with her parents – Ritesh Naik and Namrata Naik - who has sacrificed a lot from shifting their base from Sanquelim to Caranzalem, to taking her for training every day early morning to Peddem in order keep Purvi’s swimming career going which is quite an expensive sport.
Her school has also been very supportive in her swimming activities. The sixth standard girl from Mustifund High School, Cujira has already made her plans for the future. She wants to be a top swimmer. Among her other ambitions is to serve the Indian Army, Navy or Defence and hopes that her swimming career will help her achieve this dream.
For someone who was pushed into the sport by her mother for life-saving purpose and once ridiculed that she won’t make it big in swimming, Purvi has come a long way.
