Mumbai lass Swapnali Yadav (11) also known as the "Little Mermaid" of the swimming world has taken yet another step towards her dream of becoming the best in her sport by winning the prestigious Kingdom Aquafest at Newport, USA on July 24.

11-year-old Swapnali was the only Indian and the youngest swimmer invited to the competition. She won the 10-mile course for females (U-18) and completed the swim in an impressive time of 6 hours, 23 minutes, 13 seconds.



Swapnali, a student of the Bombay Cambridge, Andheri was invited by the United States Master Swimmer (USMS) to USA Swimming and world ruling body FINA approved event. Sadly, financial constraints meant that only her father Gopal and mother Sailee could go along leaving behind her coach Rajendra Palkar and Gym trainer Rupali.

Obviously the conditions in the US were not easy.

"The water temperature in the US is very low and that was one of my biggest challenges because the water in India is much warmer. So, 7 miles into the event, I started slowing down as I was shivering but did not loose confidence as I wanted to make my country proud. After completing 10 miles I didn't knew I was the winner and when my name was announced I was surprised," added Swapnali.

Swapnali was grateful to her school: "I'm very happy as I was the youngest swimmer in the competition, would like to thank my school, who has always supported me by granting me time off."

"My dream is to win an olympic medal for my country and I will work even harder towards achieving it," she signed off.