Budding hope

Gaurika puts down these achievements to training and hard work. She trains at the Barnet Copthall swimming club in London. Her training is extensive and rigorous, for 50 weeks each year. She attends between 8-9 swimming training sessions each week and three of these sessions start at 5 in the morning. Each week she swims approximately 40 kilometers. Her dedication is reflected in the fact that her club elevated her to the senior level six months before any of her peers. She takes all this in her stride and has managed to balance this with her studies.

"I feel lucky to get this opportunity to train under some of the best swimming coaches in the world," said Gaurika. Her Head Coach Rhys Gromley is a level-4 swimming coach (highest in Great Britain) and he has the enviable record of having coached an Olympic silver medalist, two Paralympic gold medalists, four world and 12 European record holders.Gaurika hopes to make Nepal proud by representing her country at the highest level. She has set her eyes at the FINA World Championship, Age-group Championship, the Asian Games and the Olympics. Her coaches feel with her current swimming times she is a possible medal contender at the South Asian Federation games in 2017. They are confident that as she is very young her times are bound to improve even more. If she continues on her current pace she might also be successful at gaining qualifying times, rather than a wild card entry, for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Her club, school and British Swimming have been immensely supportive.

She draws her inspiration from swimming greats Michael Phelps and Missy Franklin. Like any 12-year-old girl, she enjoys going out with friends and has an extensive network of friends. She said through Instagram she has managed to keep in contact with the Nepali swimmers she befriended last year. In her rare free time she also enjoys TV programs like Dance Moms and Cake Boss.

Seemingly unfazed by her earthquake experience, Gaurika participated in the London regionals on the weekend after the mega-quake and won a medal in her age-category. Her father Dr Paras Singh stayed back in Kathmandu after the earthquake and is involved in the relief efforts. He said that the achievement of Gaurika should be viewed in the greater context of the grit and resilience of the Nepali people. "It also highlights the role sports plays in achieving a sense of normalcy and as a welcome distraction in the face of such immense misery. We need role models like Gaurika and I for one am truly inspired by this little girl".

Gaurika's own tireless efforts in training and competitions and the opportunity her family has provided her of being coached by among the best in the world, has presented us with a potential international class Nepali swimmer. In a global world, even as we reel under a disaster of unimaginable magnitude at home, we can derive inspiration from a 12-year-old Nepali girl giving her very best in the cold waters of a distant land to deliver a performance that will give hope to her Nepali brothers and sisters in these most trying times. As she innocently puts it, "My father is helping people heal using his skills as a doctor. I want to use my skills as a swimmer to give some hope and happiness by doing well in the FINA World Championship".

The author is CEO of Mega Bank

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