Hashika Ramachandra, the 16-year-old from Bengaluru, who trains with Nataraj at the Basavanagudi Aquatic Centre, has created headlines with her sensational performance at the ongoing 77th Senior National Swimming Championships 2024 in Mangaluru, Karnataka. She eclipsed the national record in the women’s 400m freestyle previously held by Richa Mishra (4:25.76) from Ranchi, by clocking 4:24.70. She has so far won 2 golds and 1 silver in the competition and has 2 events left in the prestigious event. Elated over her record-winning performance, Hashika said, “I didn’t even know that I had broken the record. I knew it was a record, but I didn’t know that it was also the best Indian performance in this event. My competitors beside me told me the significance of the record and they were quite happy, but I had to quickly focus on my next event.” Hashika’s journey in swimming has not been an easy one. She lost her father to pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer when she was just eight years old.
Her mother, Lata Ramachandra, is a single parent and has been the backbone of Hashika’s budding career. Lata enrolled her in swimming lessons to ensure that she stays fit. Speaking about how her mother has ensured that she has all the support she needs to grow in her career, Hashika said, “I don’t really miss my father because my mother has made me feel that nothing is missing in my life and has single-handedly looked after me and my swimming career for over 10 years and I am very grateful for the sacrifices she has made.” Recalling her early days in the sport, Hashika spoke about skipping a few sessions every week but eventually took the sport seriously when she entered non-medal competitions and started winning. Hashika has since made her mark on the national stage, creating a national record in the women’s 200m medley at the 76th National Aquatics Championships last year. She clocked a time of 2:21.15, breaking the previous record of 2:23.62 also set by Richa Mishra in 2010.
However, Hashika continues to battle the mental and physical rigours of the sport and has at times felt exhausted and even considered quitting. To combat this, she has been working with sports psychologist Dr Chaitanya for the past six months and before that, with Dr Sathvick Goud for about a year.
“Obviously, sport is very tough. And what matters the most is how you overcome these daily challenges. I had to go to a psychologist and it helped me a lot. I didn’t know I needed one but once I had a psychologist, it helped me a lot. Lack of self-confidence is one of the problems I have among many others but having a psychologist gives you another perspective on things and opens your mind. It really gave me a completely different perspective and I feel more confident now. I talk to myself before my race, I was taught to do this during my sessions with the psychologist and the trick helped me immensely,” explained Hashika. Hashika bagged another gold medal for Karnataka in the women’s 4x200m freestyle along with Shirin, Shalini R Dixit and Naisha by clocking 8:54.85 on the opening day and finished second in the women’s 200m medley on the second day. She is aiming to finish strongly in the remaining events of the 77th Senior National Aquatics Championships in 2024, in a bid to fulfil her potential and qualify for the 2026 Asian Games.
“The goal now is to qualify for the 2026 Asian Games. The qualifying mark for the women’s 400m freestyle is 4:18 and right now I’m at 4:24. I believe that with time, I will have enough time to train and reduce those 6 seconds. I also aim to participate in the 200m individual medley and freestyle events,” Hashika concluded.
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