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Goa’s Rising Swim Star – the incredible story of Xavier Michael D’Souza

This boy might just be the surprise of the year

It was late January, pharm not even three months ago, that I stumbled upon Xavier Michael D’Souza. I was searching the internet for a good swimmer to join my team for an upcoming triathlon event in Goa. After coming across his name, I called his Mum and asked about his timing for a 1.5-kilometer swim. When she told me it was less than 20 minutes, I had my doubts. Could it be that I had found a boy who swims at top international competition times at the age of 13 right here in Goa?

I invited him to join my triathlon team and it wasn’t long before I realized that there was something truly extraordinary about this young man from Vagator. Out of around 100 athletes at the triathlon, he came in second, with a time of 00:17:44 for the 1.5-km swim, helping to catapult my team into the top 6 for this very tough event.

In the days that followed, I got to know Xavier and his parents and I decided to get involved in his sporting career. I quickly understood that Xavier is a one-in-a-million kid!

Xavier started swimming at the age of 6 and has been competing for the last 5 years, always achieving a spot in the top three, mostly winning gold, and often entering many disciplines in the same meet. His walls are plastered with winning certificates and press coverage and the shelves in his house are filled with medals and trophies – 84 GOLD wins to be precise (need I remind you, dear reader, that Xavier is just 13?)

Xavier says, “Swimming is my life and my family are my greatest supporters. I have put in thousands of hours in the pool and I still feel fresh after every workout. My ultimate goal is to represent India in the Olympics and become the first Indian to win Gold in the discipline of swimming.” I believe this is a realistic goal for this boy who truly swims like a fish!

Xavier’s swimming endurance and speed are of the highest level. He swims 100m freestyle in 1:06.22 (the world record being 48:20) and his long distance times are mind-blowing. At last month’s Swimathon in Bambolim, again he won Gold in the 1-km distance with a record time of 00:15:03 min. To put things into perspective, remember that he was swimming against hundreds of athletes, many of them trained adult men from the Navy or professional sports academies.

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Xavier with Ali

 

“Xavier has been regular and hardworking in his swimming practice and it is this work ethic that i believe will enable him to bring glory to state and country,” says his coach, Thomas Jose.

Training  and working with Xavier has shown me his incredible willpower, his strong ambition to win, his urge to improve and – very unusual for a teenager – the patience to put in endless hours of swimming and dry training to succeed.

Those of us who work with Xavier are now looking for sponsorship by a single company or organisation which can help with his coaching and nutrition – and give him the opportunity to compete nationally, then internationally. Without financial aid and other support it will be difficult for him to progress to international levels and get the chance to develop to his full potential.  I strongly believe Xavier will go a long way and with the right support will be able to make India proud. Very proud.

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Xavier in Action

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Ali von Moltke is an internationally certified, experienced fitness trainer and runs her own personal training company “Fit & Fast” in Saligao.

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If you or anyone you know would like to help us obtain the sponsorship Xavier currently requires, email Ali at ali@fitnfast.in

Facebook page: Fit and Fast