14-year-old swimmer Pahi Borah from Tezpur, Assam clinched gold in the 200m breaststroke event at the Khelo India Youth Games. She had won silver just a day before in the 100m breaststroke.
Borah’s journey to national glory is an unlikely one. With no proper swimming pools available, she learned to swim in a local lake using makeshift equipment built with bamboos.
Her father Hemanta, a former national-level swimmer himself, began training Pahi in water since she was just 2 years old. He was determined to make her a skillful swimmer despite lacking infrastructure.
The family later moved back to Tezpur where Pahi trained in a lake, dealing with vastly different conditions compared to competition pools. She went on to win a junior national medal nonetheless.
Coach Partha Pratim Majumder noted that while Borah had talent, her technique needed refinement to succeed in standard pools. She was selected for a special sports program in Delhi last year that allowed her talent to truly blossom.
On Sunday, Borah clocked 2:41.32 in the 200m breaststroke finals, slicing almost 3 seconds off her personal best.
Majumder highlighted that with the right combination of technique and perseverance, young talents can excel irrespective of their backgrounds or facilities available. Borah stands as a shining example, he said.
The gold medal caps the teenager’s rapid rise in the sport after transitioning from makeshift small-town beginnings to world-class coaching and competition exposure.