Indian teen Aryan Nehra happy to swim with the tide

Entering his first long course meet of the year at the TYR Pro Swim Series soon after a lengthy US college short course season was a “gamble” for Aryan Nehra. The 19-year-old took it as he was eager to make the cut for the World Championships as soon as possible. “Anything else on top of that was a bonus,” he said.

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The bonuses would come thick and fast. The multiple former junior national medallist clocked personal bests in four events at the meet in Westmont, Illinois this month – 1,500m freestyle (15:29.92), 800m freestyle (8:03.15), 400m freestyle (3:56.17) and 400m individual medley (4:28.50). The timings in the two longer events helped Nehra achieve the B cut for the worlds (Japan, July) and qualification for Asian Games (Huangzhou, August-September).

In terms of rank, his best finish was fourth place in the 1,500m won by American Bobby Finke, the Olympic 1,500m and 800m freestyle champion.

“I love racing against faster people and in meets like these," Nehra said. “It's a more realistic representation of where I am compared to racing in some less competitive fields. My best finish here is a much better performance than winning 10 gold medals at certain meets. It's about knowing where you really stand in the world, and not in a particular tiny bubble.”

The Ahmedabad teenager, in fact, is amidst a large pool of serial winners. Nehra checked in at the University of Florida in 2021 as a student-athlete pursuing a major in finance while “swimming with some of the best in the world”. That included Finke, seven-time Olympic champion Caeleb Dressel and 19-time world gold medallist, Katie Ledecky.

“You look up to these people as idols. Now, they’re friends. It’s not Katie Ledecky anymore. It's Katie,” Nehra said. “You almost forget how good they are because they are so down to earth. Especially Bobby. If he’s with someone who doesn't know who he is, unless they bring it up, they will never know he's a two-time Olympic champion.”

Training alongside the cream of US swimming as part of the massive Florida Gators’ roster means “there’s always someone faster than me” in almost every session. “No matter what day or set it is, there’s always someone in a lane next to me going at a speed I want to catch up. Just having that next to you and working towards beating that is great,” Nehra said.

Yet, Nehra’s most valuable lesson from being with them comes outside the water. “You learn what actually makes them so good, why it is they do what they’re able to do year after year — how they approach things, their mindset. What I love the most about them is how humble they are even after achieving so much. It sure keeps me grounded.”

Training abroad

It wasn’t until he was nine that Nehra chose to focus on swimming from the many sports he played in Ahmedabad. That year, in 2013, he won a district championship and three years later his first medals (a silver and bronze) in a junior national meet. Nehra went on to win the 400m, 800m and 1,500m free in the junior nationals of 2017, 2018 and 2019.

In 2017, he shifted to the British International School in Phuket, Thailand on a full scholarship, training under Australian coach Colin Braund. Supported by the Gujarat government and part of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), Nehra would come back every year to compete in the nationals, but realised it would be best to move out of the “comfort zone”. “I got a lot of international exposure there, a lot of great training. It was about having a better group of swimmers, better coaching, equipment, nutrition.”

All of which got amplified in Florida. Such is the quality and quantity that Nehra is yet to race at the prestigious NCAA conferences or the nationals; he does compete in other collegiate short course meets. “It's incredibly competitive here," he said. “We have a huge team and only about half of it gets to go to the conference. In my freshman year, I was pretty far from making it. This year, I got really close. I ended up breaking 15 minutes in the short course mile. I’m hopeful I’ll get to do it next year, and the year after.”

For this year, the Asian Games in China is a big goal in the teen’s first multi-sport experience. He's already got a taste of the worlds as he was in the Indian contingent in Gwangju, 2019 as a 15-year-old. “I was nowhere near that level then. I'm a little closer now,” he said. “I can start going to these major international meets with more expectations. And, hopefully, start trying to make the finals of it over the next few years.”

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