Swimmer Bhakti Sharma starts online campaign for Olympic dreams

When it comes to aquatics India does not have much to boast about on the international arena and unfortunately when there are sparks of talent financial support becomes a challenge This discouraging situation has not deterred Bhakti Sharma the 26yearold Mumbaibased longdistance swimmer who set a record in long distance swimming in the Antarctic Ocean last yearSharma has set a world record of being the youngest person to swim in the Antarctic Ocean and completed 228 km in 4114 minutes to set a world recordThe swimmer who was awarded the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award in 2010 has always found it difficult to gather funds for her training but never let it discourage herNow she is going the crowdfunding way With a campaign through the website Fuel a Dream she hopes to gather R 230 lakh which will ensure that she can train to represent India in the 2020 Olympics in TokyoSwim the tideThe campaign is 72 days away from its deadline with a collection of R 142100 till the time of going to press Sharmas cause received a huge catapult when maestro AR Rahman recently tweeted about her efforts egging people to support her Optimistic about the crowdfunding decision she says she came across the option while looking for funds to train for her Antractic swimLast year when I was trying to get sponsors for the Antarctica swim and failing at it I started researching options online I came across a few stories of artists and entrepreneurs mostly who had raised funds this way This is how I got introduced to this wonderful concept she recounts and adds More people need to know that there is this amazing option available to them to help them through their financial strugglesPrime Minister Narendra Modi met her last year and discussed her future plans The swimmer who now trains in a Juhu club grew up in Udaipur where the situation was not very conducive to competitive swimming In Rajasthan we didnt have an allseason swimming pool and all the pools shut down after October till next FebruaryMarch for winters But in order to better my performance at the national level my mother used to request pool owners sometimes even resort owners to not empty their pools in winter or at least till the time I practised which usually lasted till November end or December first week she recallsBhakti SharmaChannel to successIt was during one such winter practice session that her mother asked her if she would be interested in open swimming or long distance swimming in the cold English Channel and she decided to go for it The culmination of her journey till now was when she completed a distance of 228km in 4114 minutesIt was the most beautiful experience of my life Not just the swim but simply being there in Antarctica The swim itself was quite painful at the beginning because as I jumped in the salinity of the water hit me It made it very hard to pull through each stroke But then I remembered a poem my friend had sent me when I was training for the swim and the lines were Dont give up when you are hardest hit Rest if you must but do not quit I started reciting this as a mantra and focused on taking one stroke at a time she recountsRanganath Thota the founder of FuelADreamcom says he is very happy that Sharmas appeal has found response through the website Before this the website has supported different initiatives including that to build a canal in Horti MaharashtraThe idea of the website is to not just to raise funds but it is a reassurance that there are people who believe in your cause and you are not alone Moreover you build a support base for yourself So the next time Bhakti is trying to get funds for a project the right people would already know who she is he explainsSharma explains that instead of aiming for 2016 she is aiming for 2020 to be better prepared Open water swimming has been an Olympic sport since 2008 I want to represent India in this event and hopefully win a medal she signs offLog on to wwwfueladreamcom