Ace swimmer Maana Patel to train in Odisha

New Delhi: With Hangzhou Asian Games just a month away, Tokyo Olympics swimmer Maana Patel will be training at the newly-built Indoor Aquatic Centre in Bhubaneswar. Maana, who has been in fine form and had a few good races at the Senior Nationals in Hyderabad in July, is now set to compete at the Asian Games. Talking about her preparations ahead of the prestigious quadrennial event, the swimmer told a news agency, “I am looking forward to how I perform there. After that, we will see what happens next. Right now, I am fully focused on my training and my performance at the Asian Games.”

The ace swimmer will be preparing for the all-important Asian Games under the guidance of Douglas Eagar, Technical Director of the Odisha JSW Swimming HPC.

Speaking about why she chose to train in Odisha, the swimmer said, “Well, it is because of a lot of things. But I think when a person reaches a certain point, I think one can expect changes, and most of the time, it is good to have change. It’s good to change the environment and see how that works for you and that is what I did this time. I have been here since last month and I am really happy with my training. It’s a lot more peaceful here and I am so much more focused with my training and swimming. I am happy with the way things are here.”

Maana also talked about the tuning between the coach and the athlete. She said, “The most important thing is the communication between the coach and an athlete and I am happy to get that over here. I have just started to know coach Douglas and we are building on our relationship slowly and steadily. I see the relationship moving in a good direction. Things are good. He is trying to understand me as a person and as an athlete, what I require and what I am, the kind of person that I am, and how that may impact me as a swimmer and my performance.”

“Douglas is putting in the effort to know me, to understand me and he knows that I am an experienced swimmer so he treats me like that. At the end of the day, I feel that I am an equal stakeholder in my career and I have a say in what I am doing and what I want to do,” she added.

Maana also lauded the state-of-the-art facility at the Indoor Aquatic Centre at Kalinga Stadium Sports Complex. She said, “The facilities over here are just brilliant, and watching the young kids competing at the 39th Sub Junior and 49th Junior National Aquatic Championships 2023 at Kalinga Stadium was a pleasure. Last week, I witnessed some sensational swimming by the young kids. I am sure that aspiring kids will be motivated to take up swimming as a career given the kind of infrastructure that will be available to them for their preparations.”

The swimmer from Gujarat also talked about the next crop of talent. She said, “I am excited to see how this impacts the younger generation because we are expecting a lot of good swimmers but it’s always good to see that Indian swimming is progressing in right direction. A new generation of swimmers are coming up, they are doing so much better. For example, Karnataka’s Dhinidhi Desinghu swam well. She broke my record by two seconds and that’s a very fast time for somebody of her age. So obviously, I am really happy with where things are going for Indian swimming. I am excited to see how this impacts the younger generation,”

she said.