Waterworld woman

She has the grace of a porpoise in motion. And the gentle demeanour of a dolphin.
Shikha Tandon doesn''t speak much. But watch her practising at the KC Reddy Swim Centre in Sadashivanagar and you realise her eloquence is in her calling. For she is determined to win an Olympic gold in swimming.
A second year pre-university science student of the Mahaveer Jain College, she''s back in home town Bangalore having bagged nine gold, two silver and three bronze medals at the recent National Games in Hyderabad.
"My brother had a wheezing problem and the doctor advised my parents that he be taught to swim to improve his lung capacity. That was how we found ourselves in the pool.''''
She was eight years old then. One year later, in 1994, she won her first national medal.
Shikha was the youngest member in the Indian contingent for the 13th Asian Games (Bangkok, 1998), the 8th South Asian Federation Games (Kathmandu, 1999) and the 6th Asian Swimming Championship (Busan, 2000).
She represented Indian in the 9th World Swimming Championships in Fukuoda in July 2001, the second Indian woman ever and the youngest at 16 years to have clocked below the ‘one minute barrier'' (59.96 seconds) in the 100 mtr freestyle.
She was also the first Indian woman since 1986 to reach any swimming final in an Asian Games - at the 14th Asian Games in Busan in October 2002 (100 mtr freestyle).
Shikha currently holds five individual ‘Best Indian Performance'' national records in 800 mtr freestyle, 200 mtr individual medley, 100 mtr backstroke, 100 mtr freestyle and 50 mtr freestyle.
For the first time ever an Indian woman timed below 9''30'''', 2''30'''', 1''08'''' and 59'''' respectively for the first four records. The 800 mtr freestyle record which Shikha broke by nearly 12 seconds was the oldest existing Indian swimming record created before Shikha was born. She also holds two ‘Best Indian Performance'' national records in the 4 x 100 mtr freestyle relay as well as in the 4 x 200 mtr freestyle relay.
"My coach Nihar Ameen is very understanding and very tough,'''' she says. Nihar holds the highest coaching certification in swimming (ASCA Level 5) and was assistant to US Olympic coach Jack Nelson from 1989 to 1992 at the International Swimming Hall of Fame, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Shikha trained for a while in the USA on a Government of India scholarship and her doting parents Rahul and Bindu Tandon are hoping she will get corporate sponsorship for further training.Currently, Shikha holds 17 junior and sub-junior national swimming records and to date has won 128 gold, 54 silver and 27 bronze medals.
Next stop: Qualifying for the 10th World Swimming Championship in Barcelona in July 2003 and the Olympics in Athens in August 2004.
Any bets, this lass is going to make the country proud?
allenmendonca1@indiatimes.com