After a strenuous swimming practice and a quick dinner, Aishani Chakraborty, the captain of the girls’ swimming team, had a chat with the English Press about her expectations from BOSM.
The girl’s swimming team comprises of ten undergraduate students, along with a PhD scholar, and an exchange student from Germany. The team began morning practice immediately after getting back on campus, and the frequency of practice has doubled as BOSM approaches. Colleges from Delhi University, like SRCC and Venkateswara, offer close competition to the team during BOSM. ‘Most of the participating colleges are quite skilled as they have national level players in their team’, Aishani adds.
The girl’s swimming team also participates in outstation tournaments hosted by colleges like IIT Bombay, IIM Indore, and BITS Hyderabad. While spectatorship for the sport is often disheartening, the team gathers a sizable number of medals after each tournament. In BOSM 2017, the team won nine medals, including individual events and relays.
This year, BOSM will have 50 metre, 100 metre and 200 metre races for four types of strokes – freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and the butterfly stroke. Apart from these races, 400 metre and 800 metre freestyle races, relays, and individual medalist events will also be organised. The swimming pool in BITS has six lanes, and only two students from a college can participate in one race. There are no definite guidelines on fouls, but participants may get disqualified for changing lanes, not touching the end wall, and starting early.
As a child, Aishani took up swimming as a leisure activity. However, when she started picking up strokes with speed and ease, her family encouraged her to try competitive swimming. She is an ardent admirer of Shivani Kataria, an Indian swimmer who holds many national records in swimming. As captain, Aishani attempted to ensure that all team members get a fair opportunity to participate in BOSM. ‘My captaincy has never been a burden as the team is motivated enough to practice regularly,’ she says. So far, preparing for BOSM has been smooth sailing, and the CoSSAc has been cooperative. Aishani is looking forward to a successful edition of BOSM. On a parting note, she requested BITSians to come and cheer for the team. ‘When you have support from your own people, it motivates you a lot and helps you perform better. We want more BITSians to be active on campus and support the teams in every sport.’