Gaya (Bihar), May 10 : Aditi Satish Hegde came to the Khelo India Youth Games 2025 Bihar determined to showcase improvement from the last year when she won five medals, including two gold. Her hard work paid off and the Maharashtra ace set the BIPARD Swimming Pool in Gaya on fire with a haul of seven medals, including five gold.

The Nashik girl's success was not only by way of winning three gold and two bronze in individual events but also in the manner in which she clipped the times from the last edition in each of the five events in which she competed in both Chennai and Gaya. The best example of this is the 800m Freestyle in which she won only bronze but cut a whopping 19.42 seconds from last year.

Aditi's three individual gold medals in the Khelo India Youth Games 2025 Bihar came in 200m Freestyle (2:09.51), 400m Freestyle (4:32.87) and 100m butterfly (1:04.73) while she picked up bronze in 800m Freestyle (9:28.20) and 1500m Freestyle (18:22.97). She was also part of Maharashtra's teams that won gold in 4x100m Freestyle and 4x100m Medley. The 50m Freestyle, was the only even in which she did not win a medal.

The medals did not come by a stroke of luck but were the result of a lot of effort in the lead-up to the event. The National Games competition in Haldwani (Uttarakhand) earlier this year indicated how Aditi Satish Hegde was shaping up, winning bronze medals in the 200m Freestyle and 400m Freestyle events and playing a part in Maharashtra's five silver and one bronze medals in the relays.

A Khelo India Athlete, who trains at the KI-accredited Agnel Charities in Navi Mumbai, Aditi is self-admittedly shy when out of the pool and answers questions in monosyllables. But when she dives into the pool, Aditi expresses herself in a manner born. Her body language is that of a champion, with clean, graceful movements backed by a competitive spirit. It's a deadly combination.

In her last race of the competition, the gruelling 1500m Freestyle on Friday, Aditi struggled for quite a few laps but encouraged by her mother, Radhika Hegde, from the sidelines, she earned a podium finish. It highlighted her competitive spirit even though she was not at her best.

The swimming star of Khelo India Youth Games 2025 Bihar, Aditi, started swimming under the guidance of diligent coaches Shankar Madgundi and Vikas Bhadange at the Rajmata Jijau Swimming Pool, Nashik Road. On the evidence of the improvement shown in the past year, there can be no doubt that the best is ahead, Aditi Satish Hegde. She will now have to replicate the same performance at the senior level to continue the swimming legacy of the state that has produced legends like Virdhawal Khade and Taranath Shenoy.

/IANS