On a record-breaking spree at the Nationals at Hyderabad this last fortnight, Aryan Nehra hopes to be the first Indian to dip under-8 minutes over 800 metres. “Hopefully, at the World Championships,” he says of achieving it at the Japanese port city of Fukuoka. “If I don’t get it there, I’m fairly confident I should have it by Asian Games. But ideally, I get it at the world’s and build upon that heading into Asian Games.”
The 19-year-old from Ahmedabad is the latest sensation over the freestyle distance events – 800m and 1500m – where India boasts a good crop of swimmers, all pushing each other to better timings. But the race Nehra executed at Hyderabad over the 800 to clock 8:01.81 was near perfect, even if the conditions were difficult – outdoor pool, warm humid climate and sunny.
“Replicating that race in a world-class facility, indoors and everything, swimming against people that are faster might just push me that extra 1 or 2 per cent and I’ll be able to get under 8. And then just be a little stronger and faster to be quicker than that,” he says.
The 800 came on the back of new meet records in 400m (3:52.55) and 1500m (15:29.76), where he went past Kushagra Rawat’s 15:38.13. It was a personal best (PB) for him by two-lengths. So, he was pretty happy once he found out.
“Under those conditions, it is as about as much I can realistically expect. I don’t see any point in beating myself up for not being faster. Frankly, I could’ve been much slower and still called it a good race. I couldn’t have done much better. I’m never gonna complain about PB, if I get gold and national record and PB it’s very crazy of me not to be happy with that,” he says.
The teenaged sensation considers 1500m his pet event as much as the 800m, despite its rigours and limited returns. “I lean towards 1500, it’s what I’ve been the best at. I’m trying to think of the right words – it’s not high maintenance, but it’s just harder to get right. It’s such a difficult and long event that if I swim it 5 or 6 times in a season I’m probably not gonna have as many great and amazing 1500s as I will 400s or 800s. So, it’s a little annoying in that way.
“Also, you swim for 15 minutes or 16 minutes and you find out you don’t have a Personal Best, so it sucks in that sense. But it’s what I’ve always been best at and we’ll find out when we get to World Championships and Asian Games which one I’m better at now. But in the past. it’s always been the 1500,” he says.
His childhood growing up in Ahmedabad teemed with sports – tennis, golf, rink skating, a spot of football. Swimming was merely a survival skill to be learnt before he started enjoying it way too much and it got winninger too. He realised he was good at it, and started dropping out of the other sports to focus on the pool.
Last fall, his sponsors – Inspire Institute of Sports – arranged for a spot on the Florida University’s swimming program, and the results have followed almost immediately.
“The biggest thing is learning to race better. When I have faster swimmers, pretty experienced swimmers than me who are next to me. Just keeping myself in the race, playing it to my strengths. I understand what part of the race I need to focus on just hanging with them when I need to turn the switch and try and go beyond that, overtake them or whatever. So just learning to swim with the field, swim my own race but still swim it in a way that I can manage to win the race. A couple of other small things like my turns, my underwater, and everything that’s been a pretty big thing for me last season,” he says.
Florida stint the game changer
Florida has made all the difference. “It was very important for me. Not being much faster than what I was in 2019 up until recently, just being able to work on those small things at Florida and pick that up from some of the best in the world I train with day in and day out. That’s really made the difference and kinda helped me get to that next level so to speak.”
By swimming at the University of Florida, Nehra is part of the Collegiate team there, he benefits from being in the vicinity of an extensive pro group there as well: swimmers who are out of their college years, but are professional swimmers – they swim for a living. Names like Bobby Fink, Caeleb Dressel, Katie Ledecky, Kieran Smith. These swimmers are some of the best in the world and Fink and Ledecky are the best in the world in distance freestyle events.
Aryan Nehra is part of the Collegiate team at the University of Florida, where he’s in the vicinity of swimmers like Bobby Fink, Caeleb Dressel, Katie Ledecky, Kieran Smith.
“There is so much to learn from them about how I can be a better swimmer in the pool but also more importantly, what I can do outside the pool to kinda help, where you can be a little easygoing and stuff,” he says.
He adds: “You don’t have to be so tense and stressed out outside water. Every day in training and competition, there are elements you can control and things you can’t. When you are outside the pool you can’t do much to be a faster swimmer when you are not inside the pool, so there’s no point thinking about it and spending time worrying about it. Just living your life and I found that makes a difference as well.
“I’ve started to understand that if you don’t worry about it and not stress on it too much when you are outside the pool it helps you be more focused and more all-in when you are in the pool. Saving all that mental focus and energy for when you need it. And not wasting it when it’s not gonna do you any good. That’s one of the many things I’ve been able to pick from some of the best swimmers in the world I train with at Florida.”
Florida coach Anthony Nesty – Olympic champion from Seoul 1988 – has been big on the whole learning to race part. Most of the meets he’s been to in the US weren’t super competitive but Nehra got very good at being able to swim fast without someone next to him. Like swimming against the clock.
But onto a higher level, it’s all about swimming with the field so naturally when you are swimming against people faster than you, chances are you will end up swimming fast too. So, if you can focus on winning the race defeating the people next to you, the fast times will naturally follow. It’s why he isn’t getting caught up in timing targets.
“It never happens that you are swimming against a great field and win, and you find out that your timing was off. It doesn’t work that way, but what can happen is if you are too focused on the time you can have a decent race but you could’ve had a much better race. You might not win or might not make the finals. Really at that level what’s important is getting your hand to the wall and that’s something that coach Nesty has really emphasised, and I’m starting to get better at,” he says.
At the Aquatics World Championships, Aryan will compete on Tuesday in the 800m event and on Saturday in the 1500m race.
The World Championships, where he will compete on Tuesday (800m) and Saturday (1500m), remain the immediate target, it is at the Asian Games though that new ground can be broken. “I’ll see what I can do at World Championships and then figure things I need to work on next month and a half heading into Asian Games. I think the goal is to make finals and best-case scenario, get onto the podium naturally at Hangzhou,” he says.
Scope for improvement
The scope for improvement for Nehra is immense, given his weakness is the turns – 29 of those over 1500m, and 15 over 800m.
Aryan Nehra finished second at the 2022 National Games in the 800m freestyle event behind Advait Page (left) and ahead of third-placed Sajan Prakash (right).
“Whether or not how much improvement I can manage to bring about there is a different question. But throughout my swimming that’s what everyone points out, definitely turns are my weakest point and especially for someone who swims long distances I need to do a lot of them, I get told a lot. I’m better at it than I used to be I’ve been told as well. But they are nowhere near world-class, that’s definitely the biggest and most obvious area for improvement as far as my swim goes as of now,” he says.
For most of the season, Nehra is in a semester, trying to juggle classes and academic load with swimming, which he says is not terribly difficult.
“Because we are fortunate to have a great support staff and set of academic advisors, people around us that help us manage that workload, and do our best in the pool and the classroom. Swimming in a much bigger group – I was always in a group with 10 or 15 swimmers tops – going into a program that’s got 70 swimmers, 35 men and 35 women and extensive support staff around that as well. It’s relearning what it takes to be the best in the world and learning to make the most of those resources with the time I have in Florida,” he says.
The Indian challenge over the 800m and 1500m has other talented swimmers like Kushagra Rawat and Advait Page, his Florida senior. The duo have set markers for Nehra to reach and supersede eventually.
“It’s healthy competition. They’re both significantly senior to me and they’ve brought Indian swimming a long way. I’m very grateful to them for bringing it as far as they have and showing me what’s possible,” he says.
Aryan Nehra finished second at the 2022 National Games in the 1500m Freestyle event behind Advait Page (Madhya Pradesh) and ahead of Aneesh S Gowda (Karnataka).
Nehra was still a young junior swimmer when they were making big waves on the senior scene and setting national records. “The two of them always had a back-and-forth for Indian bests and whatnot. I always used to look at that and wished to be a part of that group trying to push the limits of distance swimming in India. I’m glad to be considered a part of that group now. I’m very excited about the competition going forward. It’s great for all of us. I really love it and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
For Paris Games, the A standard is what it’s going to take to make the cut – 7:51.65 over 800m and 15:00.99 over 1500m. “And if that’s what it is, that’s what I have to do in the 800. And in the 1500 that’s where my best chances are, so that’s the goal for the next year. See how close I can get to it at Asian Games, and whatever little is left, I’ll try to manage to close that gap by next June,” he says.
Juggling academics remains a challenge. Nehra chose Florida because it was the best swimming program for him in the pool.
“It’s great that I can manage to swim at inarguably the best place for me to train in the world and manage to get a degree simultaneously. If I had to do it without the degree, I’d still be at Florida. But it’s great I can get the degree as well because I know swimming is going to come to an end someday and I’m gonna need a job. If all goes to plan, and swimming goes that incredibly well maybe I won’t. But the chances of that are very slim. And I have to be realistic. I’m definitely all in for swimming but I felt there’s no harm in having that degree in my pocket and just kinda working on that simultaneously still never forgetting what the main focus is,” he ends.
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How training in Florida, alongside Ledecky and Dressel, has made a difference
While Universities of Texas and California are known for their backstroke and sprint programmes, Florida’s Gators have found renown for their high yardage swimmers over 800 and 1500 metres. At Florida, they typically train 70K metres a week, and ramp it up August through December, building good endurance. Swimming alongside big names like Finke, Ledecky and Dressel who are in the programme as pro athletes, has meant Nehra has shown a smooth, streamlined stroke in recent months. Florida’s focus on the 1500m sees them put more finalists in the Conference finals than any other University over this distance. Of the three swimmers who made the cut (timing inside of 8th position from last edition) at the Asian Games, two are at Florida (Advait Page). Kushagra Rawat completes the trio over the long distance.
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