I owe my swimming skills to my mom, says Parmar Vishwa Vijaybhai

Team L&M

The story of Parmar Vishwa Vijaybhai, the sole representative of Rajkot’s Aatmiya University in the inaugural Khelo India University Games in Uttar Pradesh, is quite unique. Vishwa mentioned that his mother was afraid of water but didn’t want her daughter to fear water as well, so she encouraged her to learn swimming.

Vishwa is a second-year engineering student. Her father, Vijaybhai Parmar, works in construction in Rajkot, while his mother is a homemaker. Vishwa, who has been swimming for eight years, says, “My mother is afraid of water, but she didn’t want me to fear water, so she put me into swimming lessons when I was 10 years old.”

This is Vishwa’s first Khelo India University Games at the age of 18. The 400-meter individual event is her favorite, and she has won several medals in it. Reflecting on his first competition, she says, “In the Khel Mahakumbh held in Surat in 2014, I won a gold medal in the 400 meters and a silver in the 200-meter backstroke. I continued to win gold medals every year in the Khel Mahakumbh until 2016. Later, I won a silver medal in a tournament organized by the State Federation because the competition was tough there.”

Vishwa mentioned that she participated in the Women’s Nationals held in Hyderabad in 2016. Sharing her experience, she says, “I was eliminated in the heats in the Women’s Nationals. I finished in 16th place. After that, I also participated in the Nationals for the heptathlon, where I finished 11th.”

Training for 5 to 6 hours daily under the guidance of Bankim Joshi at Rajkot’s Lokmanya Tilak Swimming Pool, she expressed her excitement about the Khelo India University Games, saying, “I have been aiming to participate in these games for many years. Now, I am happy. It’s a fantastic platform. I get the opportunity to meet new athletes and learn a lot. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision will take sports further in our country.”