Swimmer Tirthank Pegu says the feeling of winning a bronze medal at the ongoing Youth Oympics in Dakar is yet to sink in, although the 17-year-old from Assam’s Jorhat district has a clear vision about his bigger goal. “I want to swim in the final of the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028,” he says. Pegu is yet to graduate to the senior ranks, and no Indian swimmer has gone beyond the preliminary heats at the Olympics, but the teenager won’t be bogged down by history.
“I want to win medals at Commonwealth and Asian Games, especially at the 2030 CWG which will be held in India. I want to break the mould and become the first Indian to swim in an Olympic final. This medal has given me a lot of confidence,” he said, referring to the podium finish in the 200m butterfly in the Senegal capital last Friday. Pegu clocked 2:01.25, behind Egypt’s Zain Ali (1:57.88) and Vietnam’s Van Hoang Quy Duong (2:00.32).
The result makes Pegu the first Indian man to claim a swimming medal at the Youth Olympics.
He could have achieved a podium finish five days earlier but missed out on a 100m butterfly bronze by 0.27 seconds. That played on his mind till he made amends in the longer distance. “It was not ideal preparation, to be honest. I kept thinking of my 100m result till the very end. I had put myself under a lot of pressure going into my second event. I kept telling myself that I have to win a medal and not let my coach down,” Pegu, who is supported by IIS, said.
“That’s why I couldn’t touch my personal best (2:00.96), but I’ll take the medal.”
He dedicated the medal to his coach, Olympian Sandeep Sejwal, who, however, has decided to call time on his coaching career, leaving Pegu to figure out a path for himself.
“Sandeep sir is like family. He had decided to retire from coaching, so I wanted to give him a good parting gift. I am happy that I could do that,” he said.
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Pegu began swimming at the age of four in an Olympic-size pool near his house in Assam. “At that point, it was the only decent 50m pool in the state, and we were lucky that it was close to our place,” he recalled. A reluctant starter, Pegu got serious in his pursuit two years back after his father died.
A state government employee who was a district-level boxer in his younger years, Pegu’s father wanted him to build a career in sports. Boxing was the first choice, but Pegu’s mother was apprehensive. “She was too scared to get me into boxing, fearing I would return with a broken nose.”
Then came swimming. Success arrived at the 2022 Junior Nationals where he won two gold medals (200m butterfly and 200m freestyle) and two silver (4x200m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay). It was followed by an Asian Youth Games silver in 200m butterfly last year and a Junior Nationals gold in the event earlier this year.
Inspired by French swimming sensation Leon Marchand, besides Sejwal, bronze medallist at the 2014 Asian Games, and Sajan Prakash, Pegu believes the future of Indian swimming is in safe hands.
“This is not an overnight success. Dhinidhi Desinghu is already an Olympian. Sajan Prakash has done a lot for Indian swimming and Srihari Nataraj reached the Youth Olympics final in 2018. It’s a steady growth and I wish to take the legacy of Sandeep sir and Sajan sir forward,” Pegu said.