Swimmer Chahat eyeing National Games, Olympics quota in 2020

Deepankar Sharda

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 1

After ending 2019 on a high, Punjab swimmer Chahat Arora is looking forward to putting up a good show in various events in 2020, including the National Games.

Chahat recently bagged two gold medals and one silver medal in the 13th South Asian Games (SAG) in Nepal.

She claimed the gold in the 50m breaststroke event with a new short-pool national record. She was competing in a 25m short pool for the first time at the international level in recent years. She won a second gold in the 4x100m team event, following it with a silver in the 100m breaststroke event.

Chahat, who represents Mohali and the Punjab Swimming Association (PSA), had also participated in the World University Games in Naples last year.

"It was a good year, but the most crucial period is yet to come. After getting postponed twice, the National Games are likely to be held this year and I really want to bag a rich haul there," said Chahat. "My last achievement was in a 25m pool, in which timings are faster, but the upcoming events will be in 50m pools, and that needs more hard work. I have already started preparing for the events, though all are scheduled during the second half of this year."

The National Games are scheduled to be held in Goa from October 20 to November 4. The last edition of these games was held in Kerala in 2015. A student of MCM DAV College (Sector 36), Chahat started competitive swimming at the age of 14. She currently trains at the Panjab University Swimming Coaching Centre under the guidance of Gurcharnjit Singh.

Olympics dream

The 22-year-old is the first girl from Chandigarh and Mohali to win a National Games gold, and to create back-to-back School Games Nationals meet records. "I have won many medals at state, national, inter-university and international championships, but the ultimate goal is to represent the nation in the Olympics," Chahat said. "I have age on my side and I am giving my best to achieve my dream. I don't want to regret later that I did not try my best."

Her medals at SAG last year were important for her as she was on a comeback trail after a shoulder injury. "Though ours is not a contact sport, injuries often occur when one tries to improve one's strokes. I also tried to change my freestyle and breaststroke action but was pushed back by an injury," Chahat said. "But I worked hard to get things back on track and managed to regain my form. I'm now more careful to avoid such injuries as it's a crucial year for me."

"Her achievements have made us proud," said PSA secretary Parbhat Sharma. "PSA is trying hard to provide better facilities to the state swimmers. We hope that her achievements will get appreciated by the district (Mohali) administration on this Republic Day."