Life through the Swimming Goggles

Taken By: Yukta Malik Chemical | B.Tech. IV

Anshul Ketan Kothari is a distinguished Indian athlete, known for being an exceptional swimmer. What many of you don’t know is that Mr. Kothari also once sat in the same classrooms and buildings as you. He also walked down the same dimly lit college roads and did what engineers do best — studying the night before exams. That’s right, Anshul was also a student at our very own SVNIT. He graduated in 2012, with a B.Tech. degree in Computer Engineering.

Renesa recently caught up with him for a chat about his life at SVNIT and beyond. Anshul’s journey is nothing short of inspirational and all of us at Renesa hope that you find some form of inspiration and relive some fond memories through this candid chat with the ace swimmer. Read on!

Introduce yourself.

I’m Anshul Kothari, from the Computer Engineering batch of 2012.

Please share your achievements after college.

Asian Games 2018 Finalist Asian Games 2014 Finalist Asian Games 2010 Finalist Commonwealth Games 2010 Finalist 7-time Asian Age-Group Medalist 3-time South Asian Games Gold Medalist 21 International medals, 1 International record, 5 National records Given Eklavya Award by the Government of Gujarat in 2014 for outstanding contribution to sport at the international level

I had decided at the beginning of 3rd year that I will not take placements and go full time into professional sport as I wanted to win medals for India. The decision was very non-conventional and many professors and friends advised me to focus on placements. But I stood with my decision and consequently, went on to represent India for 8 more years, making the Asian Games team 3 times consecutively, and broke many national records as well.

What kind of support or opposition did you get from your parents when they found out that you wanted to become a professional athlete, not an engineer?

My parents always gave me freedom to do what I wanted in life, although they did tell me that I have to finish my education till college at least. In 2008, I had a difficult choice of choosing between BITS-Pilani and NIT-Surat, but I decided to make an unconventional choice. I chose NIT-Surat so that I could continue my swimming career as well, because I had trained for swimming with a childhood coach all these years in Surat. My parents were not so convinced by my choice and did try their best to convince me to go to BITS-Pilani, but I had enough confidence in my decision.

Consequently, within 4 months, in Oct. 2008, I won a bronze medal in 100m freestyle at the 62nd Senior National Aquatic Championship 2008. This

was the first medal for Gujarat State in the senior category after 30 years.

By 2010, my decision seemed very wise because I had qualified for the Indian Swimming Team for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and 2010 Asian Games, becoming the first swimmer from Gujarat to ever achieve this feat.

In what way is SVNIT responsible for making you who you are today?

I will be thankful to SVNIT for the quality education they gave me in the 4 years as well as the support given by SVNIT to continue my sporting endeavours while studying at college.

What are some of your favourite memories at SVNIT?

My favourite memories at SVNIT include organizing many sport tournaments such as IGNIS and InterAnother memory is that in December 2019, I was the youngest person to receive the “Distinguished Alumni Award”, which is awarded to SVNIT alumni who have made significant contributions in their field.

I still visit the SVNIT campus when I am in Surat to take a walk with my classmates and revisit some old memories.

If you had a chance to go back to the past, would you change anything or do it differently?

If I had a chance to go back to the past, from the big picture perspective, I would have still done the same things career-wise. Though, I would’ve done some smaller processes differently in my sport such as going abroad for training during my childhood years.

What is your advice to the students today who are in college and want to be athletes, but are limited by various familial, financial and social pressures?

My advice to all the young students who wish to pursue a career in sports is that they should definitely finish their education till college, as it helps in the later stages of life. They should also be willing to give sacrifices in order to achieve their dreams and balance time efficiently between sports and academics, as well as cut out all unnecessary distractions. Don’t pay attention to other people’s opinions and have a lot of self-belief. Societal pressures will go away once good results come in whatever field you have chosen.

Renesa would like to thank Anshul Kothari for giving this splendid interview and wishes him all the best in his future endeavours. May you keep excelling in your work, bring more laurels to yourself and the country, and make your nation proud!