City boy Mihir Ambre, who takes part in both national and international swimming events and has won nine international medals, about 500 national, state and district medals, and 40 best swimmer trophies, was scared of water initially. But when he first tasted success and won his first medal, he enjoyed the moment and never looked back. Ambre, who has been devoting most of his time to swimming and has also been pursuing his degree in International Business Management, believes in going with the flow and not pushing too hard.
Ask him how his journey started and he says, “I started swimming at the age of nine, just for fun. I had no intention of doing it at the competitive level and honestly, I hated swimming. I was really scared of water, I used to cry everyday. I always questioned myself as to why was I even doing this? I only found the answer when I got my first medal. I fell in love with racing and winning. I mean, who doesn’t like a medal, right?”
After participating and winning the under 14 tournament of 50 m at the national level, he started seeing the results. “I felt like I had to do more. I then started with 100 m and tried something new everyday, something harder than the day before. My first national level competition was at the age of 12. At 14, I got my first medal in the nationals and at the age of 16, my first international race. So the graph kept growing and that is when I decided to fully dedicate myself to swimming,” he says.
Sharing his fitness regime, he mentions that he was a gym freak when in school. Everyone praised his body and his workouts. He went to the gym for almost 1.5 hours everyday and attended swimming classes for three hours. But he decided to change his workout routine and make it more swimming oriented. Now his workout is about six-hour long, including physical training and practice sessions. He mentions that diet has played a major role in his journey as a swimmer. “Initially, it was really hard for me to maintain a diet and cut off on outside food but eventually I got used to it,” he says.
“As much as physical strength is required, mental strength plays a major role to be successful. Personally, my focus keeps on changing. I keep different targets every time. When I started with competitive swimming, I saw that everyone was extremely focused and determined and in comparison to that, I wasn’t. I gave my all after that. I kept targets, I strove hard to achieve it and I applied that in my personal life too. Whatever I do, I give it my 100 per cent. I have made up my mind that I can never be average and I don’t want to be,” says Ambre.
“If one wants to get into competitive swimming, I feel one should do it because they want to, not because of the trend. Do it for yourself. You will get a medal one day or the other but don’t ruin your stroke, your techniques for a medal. Develop your skills, try to keep a balance between mental and physical fitness. At least, that is what I try to do,” adds Ambre.
For Ambre, Michael Phelps has always been his inspiration. He also mentions that his mother has played an important role in his journey by constantly encouraging him and helping him maintain his diet.
