Swimming, A High-esteem Sport for Nepal

The Nepal Swimming Association (NSA) is the governing body for the sport in Nepal and is associated to the Nepal Sports Council.

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Nepalis always surprise you with the skills and talents they possess in various sports, and Swimming is no exception!

Nepal makes it evident that is keen on establishing itself as a nation who wants to carve a niche for itself in every aspect, be it economic development, tourism, food culture or sports.

The country is home to some of the skilled swimmers in the world, the latest to the addition being 14-year old Gaurika Singh. This reminds us that age has no limit when it comes to pursuing your passion!

Swimming – A sport of international level
Swimming as a recreational sport has been observed since prehistoric times but became popular as a competitive world sport in the 1830s in England. By 1837, swimming competitions were being held across London by the National Swimming Society. The year 1880 saw swimming grow as a recreational sport, which led to the creation of the first national governing body, the ‘Amateur Swimming Association’. From 1882, other European countries like Germany (1882), France (1890) and Hungary (1896) began to have their own swimming federations.

The world witnessed it’s first women’s swimming championship in 1892 in Scotland. And later on, in 1896, men’s swimming became a part of the Olympics in Athens. Women’s swimming was introduced in the Olympics in 1912.

With the growing progress of the sport, the need for a governing body was realized and so the ‘Fédération Internationale de Natation’ (FINA) also known as ‘International Swimming Federation’ was formed in 1908.

Competitive Swimming
Competitive swimming became prominent in the 19^th century with an aim to challenge one’s self by creating and breaking self and world records. Competitive swimming involves all the four primary styles and includes the individual medley.

Styles:
The beauty of this sport is that it has different styles to it. The most important styles recognized globally are as follows:

Butterfly Swimming: The butterfly was developed in the 1930s and was originally a variant of breaststroke. It was separated as a style of its own in 1952. The fly (another name) is performed by swimming on the chest while moving both arms asymmetrically. This is often accompanied by a butterfly or dolphin kick.

Backstroke Swimming: Backstroke, as the name suggests, is swum on the back and has the advantage of easy breathing. Compared with other competition swimming styles, the backstroke has a different start and is similar to an upside-down crawl. The backstroke is an ancient style of swimming popularized by Harry Hebner.

Breaststroke Swimming: The breaststroke is a swimming style that involves the chest and torso. It is one of the most popular and relaxing styles since it allows the swimmers head to be above the water and can be swum at slow speeds. Captain Matthew Web made his record-breaking swim with the breaststroke when he swam the English Channel in 1875; 21.26-mile channel in 21 hours and 45 minutes.

Freestyle Swimming: Freestyle is one of the most common styles in freestyle swimming and is a synonym for front crawl. Competitors are subjected to few restrictions. Freestyle swimming, in distance, can range from 50-1500m.Other than the aforementioned styles, there are also styles like the dolphin kick.

Swimming in Nepal
The Nepal Swimming Association (NSA) is the governing body for the sport in Nepal and is associated to the Nepal Sports Council. The country has produced some of the most talented swimmers.

Laurels for Nepal in Swimming
When it comes to swimming in Nepal, two names shine the brightest among the rest: Shirish Gurung and Gaurika Singh. Their record-shattering performances nationally and internationally have given Nepal a promise of a bright future in swimming.

In 2017, the duo was selected for Rio Olympic Games for their performance in the qualification rounds held at Russia and Dubai. Apart from Gurung and Gaurika, seven Nepal athletes also participated in different sports in the Rio Olympics.

Shirish Gurang
The name that is reckoned with success in the Men’s swimming category is Shirish Gurung. This 20-year old star kid hails from Kathmandu and already has many laurels to his credit.

The lad smashed the national record of Nepal at Rio when he completed the 100-m freestyle swimming in flat 57.76 seconds in Heat 2.

The Tribhuvan Army Club swimmer is a proud winner of more than 15 national records including 12 solo-records and three team records. It is great to see the rewards and recognition this young lad has received in his maiden days at swimming. Gaurang has a dream to pursue a career in medicine and is known for his quick learning ability.

Gaurika Singh
The more we talk about her, the less it is about this Who would have thought that a 14-year old tiny tot would take on the world and shatter records?

Yes, we’re taking about none other than Gaurika Singh who surprised the world with her menacing swimming skills.

The youngest of nearly 11,000 athletes at the Summer Games, Singh took part in Heat 1 of the Women’s 100m backstroke in August 2016. Singh’s participation was on behalf of the universality program managed by FIFA and she finished first in the three-person heat against Evelina Afoa of Samoa and Rita Zequiri of Kosova.

Also in 2016 in Rio she got to be a part of the ‘big screen’, the Olympic Games. Even though she finished 31^st among the 34 swimmers, it did not dim her spirits.

A native of Nepal, Singh is currently a UK citizen and lives with her parents in London.

We are proud of this little lass and look forward to seeing her make more victories for Nepal.

Initiatives to Promote Swimming in Nepal and Participation of Nepal Talent
Recently this month, the Nepal Swimming Association started the FINA Technical Clinic for Swimming Coaches at Little Angels’ School. The 5-day clinic conducted by FINA expert Miguel Angel Lopez saw a participation of 57 coaches. This event was inaugurated by Nepal Olympic General Secretary Lama Tendi Sherpa.

In August 2017, the foundation stone for the heated swimming pool was laid in the premises of the International Sports Complex. The initiative came after the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by the NSA and the NSC. The stone was laid by the Minister for Youth and Sports Minister Rajendra Kumar.

Nepal Swimming Sports Video

Nepal organizes a number of competitions in-house that prepare young talents for the bigger ocean!

The Nepal Swimming Association is organizing the 22^nd Open National Swimming Tournament from June 1-2, 2018 in Pokhara. The tournament will serve as a qualifier for the 18^th Asian Games scheduled in Indonesia during August 18-September 2, 2018.This tournament will see the swimmers participating in 50m, 100m & 200m freestyle swimming events, and 50m & 100m butterfly, breaststroke and backstroke swimming events.

In September 2017, Nepal organized the Seventh National Open Swimming Tournament at the Few Lake. Nepal APF Club’s Devesh Manandhar and Venissa Jaywick of Poland won the titles of the tournament. The event saw a participation of 140 swimmers including two foreigners. The tournament was held by the Kaski District under the patronage of the Nepal Swimming Association.

NSA organized the seventh NSA Cup Swimming Championship in September 2017. The event saw the participation of 184 swimmers including 112 men and 72 women from 4 clubs and 35 schools. A budget of Rs. 250,00 million was provided by the National Sports Council to the NSA, out of a budget of Rs. 476,000 million.