Swimming champion Bhakti forced to seek financial aid via crowdfunding

Mumbai: Indian open water swimming champion Bhakti Sharma, who has set a world record by swimming 1.4 miles in 52 minutes in one degree temperature in the Antarctic Ocean, is seeking monetary help from citizens through an online crowdfunding platform to try her luck in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The 26-year-old swimmer from Udaipur in Rajasthan, started swimming at a young age of two under the wings of her mother Leena Sharma. She is currently undergoing rigorous training sessions in Mumbai, where she is working hard to sharpen and maintain her form and rhythm.

Blessed with high stamina and capability to swim long distances, Bhakti told PTI, "I am falling short of funds to complete my training and therefore I approached the team of fueladream.com to help me launch an online petition. So far, people have donated around two and half lakh rupees. But this amount is much below my expected target of Rs 1.5 crore that I would I need to spend in coming four years of my preparation."

"This is not the first time that I am looking for crowdfunding to fund my annual training costs. I have done it before while setting the world record too and now I am repeating it for 2020 Tokyo Olympics," said Bhakti.

The world record holder now wants to represent India at the Olympics in open water swimming.

"Open water swimming has been an Olympic sport since 2008 and I want to represent India in this event and hopefully win a medal. Nothing makes you more proud than representing your country on an international platform," she said adding that the only problem is that open swimming is not so popular in India.