That Olympics waved by Nepalese swimmers

Sitaram Shahi and Nisma Gurung competed in swimming at the 26th Summer Olympics in Atlanta, where six athletes participated. While Nisma was the youngest player of the Nepali team. He was only 16 years old. Runa Pradhan played in Sydney at the age of 15 and Shreya Dhital played in the London Olympics at the age of 17. This happened only for Nepal.

Gaurika Singh has become the youngest athlete of the Olympics. Gaurika was only 13 years and 255 days old when she played the 2016 Rio Olympics. While 11,238 athletes from 207 countries participated in Rio, Gaurika was the youngest athlete. Even before the start of the Olympics, Gaurika was in the limelight. That caused waves in Nepal's Olympic participation. Even though it was a summer Olympics, the host country Brazil was in the winter season.

Gaurika, who grew up in London, created a stir by winning one silver and three bronze medals at the 12th South Asian Games before going to Rio. It was the first historic medal in an individual 'event' for Nepal in Saag's swimming history. Gaurika won 4 golds in the 13th round.

Nayana Shakya, Karisma Karki, Shirish Gurung and other swimmers are among the athletes who made it to the Olympics after creating a world in domestic swimming. However, Nepal's performance in Olympic swimming has been included in individual best and national records. No player has progressed beyond the hit stage. Previously, only Gaurika and the famous Jang Shah have played two consecutive Olympics in swimming.

This is a matter of history. Two swimmers from Nepal will participate in the Paris Olympics to be held three days later. It features Alexander Shah and Duwana Lama. Alexander is also making a name for himself in swimming with two consecutive Olympics. He played in the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.

Both of them have been selected for the Olympics through the 'universality quota'. Alexander (Alex) was in America and Duwana was in Thailand, so he completed his preparations there. They have reached Paris from there. In Paris, Alex will compete in the men's 100m freestyle and Duana will compete in the women's 200m freestyle. The goal of both is to improve their performance and set a national record.

Alex has a national record in the event. He set the record last February at the World Aquatic Championships, Doha. There he covered the distance in 52.17 seconds. He was 62nd out of 108 competitors. He had earlier broken the national record of 53.41 seconds set at the Tokyo Olympics. In Tokyo he was 59th out of 70 competitors. He carried the national flag along with Gaurika in the opening march of the Tokyo Olympics.

In the 19th Asian Games in China last year, Alex's performance was not encouraging. His performance in the same 'event' was 54.14 seconds. Greens medalist Duvana will be on a mission to break Gaurika's record. Gaurika holds the national record for 200m freestyle (2 minutes 11.94 seconds). This was done by Gaurika in the 20th National Swimming Championship of 2017.

Duwana played the South Asian Games (SAG) at the age of 13. She won two silvers and three bronzes at the 13th Saag in her home country. Duwana's personal best time in the 200m freestyle is 2 minutes 12.46 seconds. She made this timing last July at the World Aquatic Championships (Fukuoka, Japan). Duwana participated in the World Aquatic Championships in Doha in February. His timing there was 2 minutes 14.50 seconds. Duwana, who also played in the Hangzhou Asiad, played in breaststroke there.

Duwana is the mermaid who won the most 9 golds and one silver in the 9th National Games, Pokhara. His personal contribution to make Tribhuvan Army Club the team champion was special. She is a swimmer who also won 5 gold and 6 silver in the 8th National Games of Nepalgunj.

Nayana Shakya has gone to Paris as Alex and Duvana's coach. Former Olympian Nayana says both athletes will perform well. She said, "Our performance in the Olympics is to make a 'national record' by doing personal best." Looking at the preparation of both Alex and Duwana, we can achieve that goal.'

Nayana, who became a coach after her career as a player, said that although both players are training outside, she is confident because they are being updated about their 'progress report'. Duwana, who is studying in Thailand, continues to visit Nepal. Nayana is doing the training here. Because of that, she is knowledgeable in Duwana's performance. Coach Nayana said that she is coordinating with Alex and taking updates and giving him necessary suggestions.

Coach Nayana, who flew to Paris on Monday, said, 'I went to the Olympics for the first athlete. Now I am going as a coach. I am very enthusiastic. She played the 2004 Athens Olympics. Nayana, who returned to the Olympics after 20 years in a different role, said she was excited to go there and learn something new. She said, "Now it is the coach's responsibility. How to get the best performance from your players became the main task. Apart from that, one of the best trainers in the world come there. I feel that I can learn a lot from them.'

Nayana, who created a mermaid image in the national team, is a player who has won gold in the 8th SAFF relay and two bronze medals in Asia Pacific Age Group swimming. She has played half a dozen international competitions including two Asian Games.