Vedaant Madhavan – Indian swimming’s next big prospect with a Bollywood connect

Vedaant Madhavan, son of Bollywood and Tamil cinema superstar R Madhavan, is unlike most other star kids.

Though still in his teens, Vedaant Madhavan has already carved a unique identity for himself, which has little to do with his famous father or the world of cinema.

Over the past couple of years, Vedaant has emerged as one of India’s brightest prospects in the sport of swimming and has already won India multiple accolades on the international stage.

"I don’t really like to have the title of R Madhavan’s son," Vedaant told the Times of India. "I want to make my own name... my competitors respect me for who I am."

Much like his dad, who made a lasting impression on Indian cinema with classics like Alaipayuthey and Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein in the early 2000s, Vedaant has been making a splash in the swimming pool for India of late. And his multi-award-winning dad couldn’t be prouder.

“Vedaant has been winning swimming championships all across the world and making us very proud. His chosen vocation is far more important to me than my own career,” R Madhavan, often popularly called Maddy, said in an interview.

Vedaant Madhavan’s swimming career

Vedaant Madhavan was born on August 21, 2005, in Mumbai to R Madhavan and his wife Sarita Birje, who is a fashion designer with her own line of clothing in Austria.

In India, star kids often walk in their parents’ footsteps and it's very common to see children of established movie makers or actors venture into the world of cinema early.

Vedaant, however, found a different passion while at school – swimming. A student of the Universal American School, Dubai, Vedaant discovered his talent for the sport while competing at swimming events for his school and decided to stick to it.

“I was swimming with my school team. There were some national level swimmers in that team,” Vedaant recalled. “One day, we had a competition against other schools and the coach decided to put me in that relay. And that moment I realised I can keep up with them. They were three years older than me. I was keeping up with them and I was having a lot of fun. After that I started going competitively.”

He first joined the Goregaon Sports Club in Mumbai to learn the sport professionally. Vedaant then shifted to the Glenmark Aquatic Foundation, a CSR (corporate social responsibility) programme which aims to promote Indian competitive swimmers to the global level, in 2017.

Vedaant has been participating in national-level meets consistently and has won several medals, including a 1500m freestyle bronze at the Khelo India Youth Games 2020 held in Guwahati.

Vedaant Madhavan’s first taste of international success came at the Thailand Age Group Championship 2018, where he clinched bronze in the 1500m freestyle.

In 2019, Vedaant, along with team-mates Utkarsh Patil, Sahil Laskar and Shoan Ganguly, won a silver medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay for Group II boys at the Asian Age Group Swimming Championship.

The year 2021, however, turned out to be a breakthrough year for Vedaant Madhavan. The youngster started the year with a 1500m freestyle bronze at the Latvia Open international meet and followed up with seven podium finishes at the Junior National Aquatic Championships held in October.

Vedaant’s tally at the junior nationals included silvers in 800m freestyle, 1500 freestyle, 4×100 freestyle relay and 4×200 freestyle relay and bronze medals in 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle and 400m freestyle.

A week later, Vedaant also medalled in the senior nationals, coming in third in men’s 1500m and 800m freestyle events. He also finished fourth in the 4x200m relay, missing out on a podium finish by four seconds.

The teenager carried the momentum into 2022, winning a 1500m silver and a 800m gold at the Danish Open swimming. The latter being his first-ever top podium finish at an international meet.

At the FINA World Juniors Swimming Championships 2022 in Peru, Vedaant clocked a personal best timing of 52.83s in the men's 100m freestyle.

He also continued his winning run at the 2022 Junior National Aquatics Championships, bagging four golds and three silvers besides breaking the 1500m junior national record. In 2023, Vedaant managed to win three gold medals (boys 100m, 200m and 1500m freestyle) and two silvers (boys 400m and 800m freestyle) for Maharashtra at the Khelo India Youth Games 2022. In April, Vedaant won five gold medals (50m, 100m, 200m, 400m and 1500m freestyle) at the Malaysia Invitational Age Group Swimming Championships.

Vedaant Madhavan, however, is only getting started.

The teenager, in an interview with the Times of India, had noted that he was fully focused on swimming and the sport was more than a hobby for him.

“My goal is to win an Olympic medal for India in swimming,” said Vedaant Madhavan, who idolises swimming legend Michael Phelps and also looks up to Indian Olympian swimmers Sajan Prakash, Srihari Nataraj and Virdhawal Khade.

During the course of the interview Vedaant also revealed that though his sport had no links to the film industry, his father’s work ethic towards his profession has also inspired him to do the same with swimming.

“I am very determined and completely passionate about swimming, just like how my dad is passionate about acting,” Vedaant said. “So, I think, I picked that up from him… I am looking forward to being as successful as him.”

Besides swimming, Vedaant is also an avid animal lover. He won the prestigious PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) Compassionate Kid Award at the age of nine for rescuing animals in need.