According to me being punctual is first priority. And the word ”give up” should not be brought to thought. One can win and one can lose, do more and more practice and increase the confidence level by doing yoga and meditation. Always stay away from people who always spread negativity.
1. Tell us about your background and journey.
My name is Bhavik Patel and I am 23 years old. I belong to a middle class Gujarati family. I live in a joint family. One of the best things I love is swimming. I have had no access to practice it so I learned it through YouTube. Then at that time one of my swimmer friends taught me swimming strokes very nicely.
The very first tournament I participated in was Khel Mahakumbh at district level. But it was my bad that I lost that competition. And after that I realised my mistakes, made sure to never look make in life. So here I am, Bhavik Patel - passion for swimming made me win many titles.
2. How did you decide to make your passion your career? Was your family supportive?
I am a very punctual man. When I participated in my first event it was 100mt freestyle event. At the very first round I got reported, at that time there was one group that also participated in the same event. I was continuously observing their behaviour.
They had some attitude or what that they will definitely win and there I lost against them. This happened in 2016. So I decided at the same time I decided to participate one more time and I lost once again in 2017. At that time I felt that I will never win but my friends motivated me and suggested I do more and more practice and they told me you just try don't think of winning or losing.
So I practiced very hard. I was going to practice in blood freezing cold as well in heavy rain and then in 2018 I won at third position and my confidence level got some boost. Then I started running, cycling, and as well as yoga so this helped me to increase my stamina.
At the end of 2018, I had participated in many different competitions and I was getting good. In 2019 I participated in 3events 100mt breaststroke, 100mt backstroke and 200mt individual medley. I won all the three events at first, first and second respectively and I was selected at state level and I gained second rank but to qualify for national level I cannot attain the time limit. But still I am working very hard for it. And the main thing behind all this I got a very much supportive family
3. Who is your favourite player and what have you learnt from him/her?
Phelps is my favourite player. The one thing of Phelps I like most is he has given all his to swimming and his experience whenever he takes part in any event his main focus is on the finish line. This makes him important because a winner always focuses on the swimming zone. And those only lose who kept staring at the winning person and this makes Phelps different from other swimmers.
4. What is the level of commitment and time required to make a sport a career?
According to me being punctual is first priority. And the word ”give up” should not be brought to thought. One can win and one can lose, do more and more practice and increase the confidence level by doing yoga and meditation. Always stay away from people who always spread negativity. Always follow the people who had suffer the most from them we can get many things. Never waste time, always focus on one goal.
5. How can we encourage more youngsters to take up sports as a full time profession?
In today’s life people are busy with different stuff and life has become like robots so apart from this one should just take 30minutes to 1hour from 24hours for any type of physical activities.
In any field of sport in which they have interest should join them and also guide children about sports apart from the technological world and this helps to keep the body healthy, fit and fine.
6. Which is your favourite book and why?
From my point of view, people should do daily reading. I love reading. I am spending my 1 hour of time external reading a book. I read a lot of books. but one of my favorite books is theory of relativity. That book was written by Albert Einstein.
I like astronome. That book explains using the minimum mathematical term, the basic ideas and principles of the theory which has shaped the world we live in today.
- Interviewed by - Christina Monachan
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