Special Olympics | How silver-medal winning swimmer Dinesh Shanmugam found his calling

Dinesh Kumar Shanmugam from Chennai won a silver medal in the 50m breaststroke Level A event with a timing of 46.59 seconds at the Special Olympics World Summer Games

Born with speech impairment, learning disability and low IQ, Dinesh Kumar Shanmugam was clueless where his life was heading — until he found his calling in swimming.

The 22-year-old from Chennai has won a silver medal in the 50m breaststroke Level A event with a timing of 46.59 seconds at the Special Olympics World Summer Games here.

"Why do I swim and not play some other sport? Because I'm good at it," Dinesh said, pausing, before succinctly putting it: "I like because it's me, water and finish line."

Now a BSC visual communication final year student at the Chennai-based Jain College, Dinesh as a youngster was prone to attention deficiency and hyperactivity.

His distraught parents tried out many options including swimming as his mother, Ganesavalli, pushed him towards the sport by taking him to the pool regularly. It was of some use.

Dinesh's parents hoped the therapeutic but demanding water training would help.

Dinesh progressed through the levels, often training in areas that did not have coaches trained to work with special needs children. And yet, his results exceeded expectations.