BITS Open Sports Meet- Swimming team

 

It was the beginning of the Gigahertz weekend. While everyone else was packing dresses, heels and the likes, those of us on the swimming team were packing goggles and tracks! We just had one more day of practice, and then after months of practicing diving, flip turning and sprinting, we’d finally begin our (almost 3 day) journey to BITS for the BITS Open Sports Meet (BOSM).

The journey was a memorable ordeal in itself. We survived on chapatti and bread spread for the entirety of the 3 days. We did all the things that small groups of people travelling in sleeper trains typically do: play card games, gossip, hang out of the doors and put up with obnoxious co-passengers! (Tip – If you’re ever travelling via/to Nagpur, do not forget to try the oranges. They’re worth the hype.) In Delhi, we had an adventure of a lifetime, racing across the city and barely catching our train to BITS!

We finally reached BITS, covered in 3 days of sweat and dirt and smelling like bread spread. The competition wasn’t starting until the next day, so after a long bath and a fulfilling lunch, we went to check out the pool and practice. We spent the rest of the day exploring the beautiful campus and splurging at the food stalls.

The next day, we had a good start, with Akshay Anantharaman bringing in the first medal for the 800m freestyle event. There were a lot of ex-national champions competing at BOSM, and we were really worried about our timings. But with the constant motivation of our captains Aravindh “Niggababs” and Snigdha, we went on to win 20 events, bagging 32 medals overall, over the course of 3 days. It was a tremendous achievement by the team.

On our last day there, we had an impromptu pool party which is one of my favorite memories from BITS. That night we stayed out till 3am just roaming around campus, eating and playing pranks on each other. This journey brought together 10 random people into a family that is the swimming team. Our journey back was no less eventful, with one member (dubbed noob-magnet for reasons that we will not get into), missing the train from Chennai to Trichy! All in all, BOSM’16 was one amazing experience.

Medal tally:

800m freestyle men – Akshay – bronze

50m breaststroke women – Dhakshaayini – bronze

50m butterfly women – Esha – silver

Men’s medley relay – bronze

Women’s medley relay – silver

200m freestyle men – MK – bronze

200m freestyle women – Snigdha – bronze

100m backstroke women – Esha – gold; Dhaakshaayini – bronze

400m free men – MK – silver

100m fly men – Soma – Bronze

100 m breaststroke men – Soma – bronze

100 m breaststroke women – Dhaakshaayini – silver ; Trisha – bronze

Individual Medley women – Esha – bronze

200 m butterfly men – Mk – bronze

50m back women – Esha – gold

200 m breaststroke – Esun – silver

4 x 50 m free men – bronze

4 x 50 m free women – silver

– Trisha Reddy