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Interview of Sarina Ruth Carr

Sarina of 8A is an accomplished, determined, and competent swimmer who has brought laurels to our school time and again. In this interview we take a step into her life and learn about the sacrifices made and mentality required to compete at such a level.

1. When did you start swimming, and did you have any prior experience with the sport before you were enrolled into coaching? Talk about your early days and the impact it had on you. How fast did you progress?

I remember that I always loved water and was not afraid of it since I was very little. My brother (also VM) started swimming lessons when I was around 3 yrs. old, and since then I have always wanted to learn how to swim.
I learned how to float when I was 6 yrs. old during a family vacation to Goa in 2015. Wanted to start swimming classes that summer itself, but the coach deemed that I was not tall enough to stand with my head above water in the shallow end of the pool and asked my parents to bring me back a year later. Even though I was still not tall enough to stand, I started swimming lessons in March 2016 at the age of 7.
At the end of the 4-week learn-to-swim program, the coach suggested that I continue swimming coaching during the afternoon session, which I was more than happy to do. I used to go straight from school to the swimming pool for 1.5 hours of coaching and it was during this time that I learned all the four strokes and the correct techniques for each. In about 3 months, the coach was happy for me to participate in competitions and within 1 year, I was moved from the evening learners’ batch to the early morning competitive swimmer’s batch.

2. What was your first proper tournament? What were your mindset, goals and who were your opponents?

The Lady Andal Inter-School Meet was my first competition the in July 2016 (Class 3). I was in the youngest age category (5 to 7) and our school was entered in the Freestyle Relay event, in which our team of 4 swimmers – Vedika, Akkshara, Aadya and me - won the Gold Medal. I was so nervous, that my goal was just to get to the other side of the pool as fast as possible, and I have no memory of who our opponents were! Though I was one of the newest in the team, I was happy that my time was close to the rest of the team.

3. How long did it take for you to start succeeding in tournaments and become recognizable in your category?

A week later, we participated in the SBOA Inter School Meet. This was my first event in a 50m pool, which was quite daunting, as I had never swum in a 50m pool before. We entered the Freestyle and Medley Relay events and won the Gold Medal in both events again! It was after this meet that we realized that the four of us were a special group of swimmers.
My first “individual event” was at the Decathlon - Vivant Schools Olympiad in late 2016 and I participated in the Under 8 Freestyle and Backstroke events. I was terribly nervous and the fact that almost all the other swimmers seemed to have already participated in several events and were so relaxed, made me even more anxious. I had no expectations at all as I started both races and was very thrilled that I won the Bronze Medal in both!
In 2017, I competed in my first District-level meet and first State-level Inter-School meet and won the Bronze Medal again in the Freestyle and Butterfly events. Along with the relay team, I also won two Silver Medals in the District Meet and two Gold Medals in the State Meet.
I also participated in my first CBSE competition in 2017 – the CBSE South Zone Meet in Nagpur, where we won the Silver Medal in the Freestyle Relay and the Bronze Medal in the Medley Relay. We qualified for the CBSE Nationals in Sonepat, where we won the Bronze Medal in the Freestyle Relay.
It was around this time, after about a year of competitive swimming that I started to gain confidence that I could compete against more experienced swimmers in my age category.

4. Take us through your average day, including your diet and what you had to give up in order to compete at such a level.

Before the pandemic, I would wake up at 4:45 am, have a glass of warm water and a banana and reach the pool for my training session at 5:15 am. This was from Monday to Saturday, with Sunday being the weekly day off. The training session lasted for about 2hrs 15mins, with the first 30 to 45 mins spent on stretches, warm-ups, and fitness workouts. This was followed by 1.5 hours in the pool doing drills, endurance, and speed training. On an average, I swim around 3,000m each day.
I finish training at 7:30am, shower, change into my uniform and eat my packed breakfast at the pool from where I go directly to school. Once I’m back from school, I finish my schoolwork and if I have time, relax a bit till dinner at 7:30pm and go to bed by 8:00pm.
I do not have a special diet as such, but I try and eat a lot of proteins, calcium, vegetables, and sufficient carbohydrates. I am also supposed to stay well hydrated with 2,500 ml of fluids every day, which I find very challenging 😊
The biggest sacrifice I must make is that my schedule leaves me very little spare time during the week. So, I catch up on fun activities like games with the family or watching a movie on Saturdays.

5. Which event and stroke do you specialize in?

My primary stroke is Freestyle, and I specialize in sprint distances, which are 25m, 50m and 100m. I also compete in Backstroke events.

6. What is your most noteworthy accomplishment till date? Paint the entire picture for us. This would be the Gold Medal in the 50m Freestyle individual event at the 2018 CBSE Nationals in Ranchi.

At the 2018 CBSE South Zone Meet in Kadappa, I qualified for the Nationals by winning the Gold Medal in 50m Freestyle with a time of 34 sec (my personal best at that time). I also won a Bronze Medal in the 100m Freestyle event. The relay team won Gold Medals in the Freestyle Relay and the Medley Relay qualifying in both events for the Nationals.
The lead up to the CBSE Nationals was a disaster, as our flight to Ranchi was delayed multiple times and we arrived in Ranchi post-midnight the night before the event. With less than 5 hours of sleep after a day spent in planes and airports, I had to report to the pool for warm up at 6am. This was November, and the temperature in Ranchi was in single digits, with the water in the unheated outdoor pool close to freezing!
Though the CBSE National meet was spread over 4 days, all 3 of my events were scheduled on the same day. Thankfully, the adrenaline was flowing in the morning, and I qualified in the 50m Freestyle Heats and we won Gold Medals in both the Freestyle Relay and the Medley Relay in the morning.
By the time the start of the 50m Freestyle Final was called in the afternoon, I was completely exhausted and extremely nervous because there were two swimmers who qualified with better times in the heats. I prayed that I would have enough left in the tank to compete and gave it EVERYTHING I had. I pushed myself so hard that I was scarcely aware that I had touched first. My abdominal muscles were cramping, and I could hardly walk as I got out of the pool. To this day, this remains my most cherished memory, not only because I won, but because I bettered my personal best with a time of 33.45 secs!

7. Have you ever felt burnt out and thought of quitting? If so, how did you manage to tackle this situation and rekindle your interest in the sport?

I have never felt like quitting, but there were times when I felt that the mountain ahead of me was too tall to climb. But my family, coach and team mates always encouraged me and helped me to get through these times.

8. What do you think sets swimming apart from other sports? Does swimming pose any particular obstacles that make it significantly more difficult compared to other sports?

Swimming is one of the few sports that involves all the muscle groups in the body – arms, shoulders, core (abs) and legs. In order to be a good swimmer, you have to train and develop all these muscles and keep pushing yourself to be fitter and faster than the competition. The most challenging aspect of swimming Freestyle is that your head is under water, and you cannot breathe when you want to. In every other physical sport, breathing is something that you don’t think about, but this is not the case with swimming. You can only inhale when your arm is extended, and your body faces sideways. Then you exhale continuously underwater till the last second when your mouth clears the surface of the water so that you can inhale again. This is an unnatural way to breathe, esp. when you are pushing yourself hard and your body and muscles are screaming for more oxygen.

9. What are the various benefits you have gained out of this entire swimming experience?

I guess the most obvious benefits have been the physical ones – fitness and endurance. But more important have been the mental benefits of discipline, teamwork, sportsmanship, learning new skills and finally, mental toughness! I would definitely recommend swimming as a sport for anyone who enjoys being in water!