How Siva Sridhar is making making waves in the pool

Young Indian swimmer Siva Sridhar has been grabbing headlines with his performances on the national as well as the international stage.

Siva Sridhar was on a winning spree at the Khelo India University Games 2021, pocketing a record seven gold medals and two silvers and in the process, winning the individual champion title, given to the most decorated athlete, at KIUG 2021. At KIUG 2022, Siva Sridhar bettered his own record to win 11 medals, including eight golds, to, once again, emerge as the most decorated athlete at the inter-university meet.

Swimmers Siddhant Sejwal and Sadhvi Dhuri had won five gold medals each in the 2020 edition, which were the previous best individual medal hauls at the KIUG.

Only in his early 20s, Siva Sridhar has made a name for himself in the international arena as well, winning the 400m individual medley at the South Asian Games 2019. Siva also holds the Indian national swimming record in the 200m individual medley courtesy his 1:59.80s swim at the FINA World Swimming (25m) Championships 2022.

Siva Sridhar, Indian swimmer on the rise

Born on November 7, 2000 in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, Siva Sridhar was enrolled into swimming by his parents at four because of his hyperactive nature.

“They wanted to channelise the energy in the right direction,” Siva said in a YouTube talk show called Winning Edge. He received his first training at Perks School under coach Hari Das.

However, training in a small 25m pool for a few years was not enough. Siva, being an exceptional talent, needed better coaching and facilities to fulfil his potential.

So, on the coach’s recommendation, Siva’s father left his job in Coimbatore and moved to Bengaluru with his son in search of better training facilities.

At the iconic Basavanagudi Aquatic Centre (BAC) in Bengaluru, Siva was put under the guidance of Dronacharya Award-winning coach Pradeep Kumar, who has shaped the careers of several national champions and Olympians.

“That is where I really started developing the foundations of swimming and started performing as a sub-junior and a junior swimmer. That is when I started winning medals,” Siva Sridhar reminisced.

After spending a few years at BAC, Siva’s talent was spotted by an Indian company that offered him a scholarship in South Africa and an opportunity to train with the coach of Olympic and world champion Chad de Clos.

Siva Sridhar’s inspiration Chad de Clos is a four-time Olympic medallist from South Africa and has more than 20 medals at the world championships.

However, Siva’s time in South Africa was filled with challenges.

“I used to win every time in India and when I went to an atmosphere where I kept losing continuously. That hit me in my mind… the diet was also a challenge in South Africa.”

As a result, Siva could not improve on his timings and returned to India in 2017.

“When I came back, I couldn't even qualify for nationals. It was bad and I had to work hard to bounce back."

However, the young swimmer, who had turned 18, kept putting in the hard yards and the results soon started to show in the pool.

Siva Sridhar clinched his first medals at the senior national championship in 2019, ending with three gold, one silver and one bronze medal.

After the COVID pandemic hit sports worldwide, Siva was back to winning at the All India Inter University Championship 2021, grabbing three individual gold medals.

Gold rush at Khelo India University Games 2021

At KIUG 2021, Siva Sridhar, representing hosts Jain University, was the best swimmer of the competition.

The Coimbatore native won five individual gold medals in 100m backstroke, 100m butterfly, 200m backstroke, 200m individual medley, 400m individual medley.

Siva Sridhar also broke the KIUG records in the 100m backstroke, 100m butterfly, 200m individual medley and 400m individual medley.

He also teamed up with Tokyo 2020 Olympian Srihari Nataraj in the relays to win the 4x100m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle events.

"We both (Siva and Srihari) usually have a big scoop of ice cream after our races, this has been a habit for many years," Siva revealed.

And at the pace Siva is progressing, the youngster can expect many more ice cream scoops and medals in the future.

Record-breaking KIUG 2022

Siva Sridhar returned for the Khelo India University Games 2022 in Uttar Pradesh and shattered his own records. His tally read 11 medals, including eight golds, this time around.

The tally included a new meet record of 4:37.21 in the 400m medley event.