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Maana Patel is one of India's most promising upcoming swimmers. Having represented India at both the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023 and the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Maana certainly has had a lot of international exposure at a very young age.
Hailing from Ahmedabad, Maana was enrolled in swimming by her mother to increase her appetite, and she took a liking to being in the water in no time.
"I come from Gujarati family and sport is not the first thing that comes into a Gujarati family's mind. Obviously, I don't come from a sporting background. I had a very poor apetite and my mother thought that if I spend some time in the water, I'll feel hungry and start eating," Maana told Sportskeeda.
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It was all smooth sailing for Maana right until she got injured at the age of 17, which forced her to take a break and start all over again after her rehabilitation. To top it off, there was hardly any time left for her to prepare for the Olympic qualifiers as well.
"I started training when I was 10 and broke some records when I was 13. It was really nice from then on till I was 17, when I had my first injury in my career. I had to come out of it and do it all over again. We barely had any time to train for the Olympic qualifiers but I feel the COVID break helped me come back fresher and stronger," Maana revealed.
She enumerated her experience at the Olympics and the Asian Games, where a young Maana got to rub shoulders and interact with some of the best swimmers in the world.
"Olympics was amazing, it was a really good experience and then Asian Games happened last year. I love representing my country at the highest level of competitions and I want to continue to do that," Maana added.
"It hinders your growth as a person" - Maana Patel breaks the myth of having a 'rosy' life as an international sports professional
Having always heard about how lucky she is to get to travel and stay internationally, Maana opened up on the challenges of an athlete's life. Right from shifting training bases to not having a social life, there's a lot that comes as part and parcel of being at the highest level.
"There has been a lot of other challenges. Moving clubs and moving cities is not always easy. I have moved around a lot for my training and there are other political aspects I would rather not speak of but someday I will. It's not always been rosy. There are some challenges here. Because swimming is such a demanding sport, you don't have a social life. It hinders your growth as a person," Maana divulged.
Maana had a tough pill to swallow recently when she failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics 2024. A spritely Maana's expectations were crushed and despite her hard work, she failed to get herself a ticket to Paris.
"It was hard. I still haven't been able to process it fully. It happens so fast. Leading up to the Olympic qualifiers - I was so optimistic and I was in high spirits with a positive mindset. I was sure of the work that I had put in - it was the hardest that I have worked till now," she said.
"Coming back to IIS was not easy. I left this place feeling victorious and content with everything I had done and now I have come back feeling really upset and really lost. Still processing what happened. I don't have any excuse for what happened, it just happened that I couldn't perform on the day. One thing I have learnt is that I am capable of working hard and I could do it again," she added.
Looking towards the future, Maana believes in doing the little things right and taking them one step at a time. With age on her side, Maana has a lot in store to showcase on the biggest stage for Indian swimming.
"I always believe in taking baby steps. It's about the milestones to reach the Olympics. We have Asian Games, Commonwealth Games. We have both in 2026, so yeah there's something exciting I am planning for my future career and it's still in the process so I would not like to mention it right now," Maana concluded.
