JSW Sports, Odisha govt to launch programme for swimming

Bhubaneswar: With an aim to develop a robust culture for swimming and produce world-class swimmers from the state, JSW Sports in collaboration with the Odisha Sports and Youth Services Department, announced the launch of a comprehensive Grassroot Programme scheduled to commence from 1 April.

The Grassroots Swim Program will be rolled out in eight locations — Bhubaneshwar, Sambalpur, Balangir, Boudh, Sonepur, Angul, Ganjam and Mayurbhanj under the umbrella of Odisha Government’s pact with JSW Sports to create a High-performance Centre and provide international standard coaching in the state. 

 Twenty coaches including two regional heads have been selected by JSW Sports for these eight locations.

To equip these coaches with international standards of training swimmers, JSW Sports in collaboration with DSYS also conducted a 4-day intensive coaching programme which concluded on Monday, 15 March 2021 at KIIT University.

 The coaches’ course facilitated by Swimming Matters was conducted by Olympian and AUSTSWIM Presenter Nisha Millet who represented India at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

The course included a combination of both theoretical modules and supervised training (practical sessions). The 20 Coaches selected for the Grassroots Programme, once certified, will hold the globally-recognized AUSTSWIM license to teach swimming.

 “This is a very comprehensive programme designed by the experts from JSW Sports with whom the Odisha State Government has signed a MoU to develop High-Performance Centre for swimming in the state. In order to build a robust culture of swimming and to identify talent from various districts in the state, a well-planned Grassroots Programme will be launched starting next month onwards in eight locations. Coaches who will be deputed in these locations have now been trained and certified following a 4-day course.

I wish these coaches good luck and we are confident, with a robust grassroots initiative, the state of Odisha will be able to produce champion swimmers in the coming years,” stated Vineel Krishna, Special Secretary, Sports & Youth Services Department, Government of Odisha. 

 Elaborating on the strategic plan to develop swimming in Odisha, Rushdee Warley, CEO of Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS), the High Performance Centre established by the JSW Group, said, “This is the start of a range of activities we are planning in partnership with the Odisha Government to develop a high performance ecosystem for aquatic sports in the state. The focus will be on starting at the grassroots, teaching a life-skill and identifying talented swimmers early, who can then be transitioned through the ranks of our structured High Performance system for the sport.”