Born with spina bifida, undergoing 19 surgeries, but still winning 100 International medals is no mean feat. An extraordinary indeed. Niranjan Mukundan, the first Indian para swimmer to complete a century of International medals, had to choose swimming due to his medical condition.
Niranjan was born with spina bifida, a medical condition in which an area of the spinal cord does not form properly. He was suggested by his doctors to choose either horse riding or swimming to strengthen his muscles. He chose the latter one. And as they say, the rest is history.
Niranjan interacted with India TV and shared his journey, his achievements and the challenges he had to overcome to reach where he is today. Here are the excerpts from the interview.
Question: You have been an inspiration for many. Can you tell us about how your journey began, how you came into swimming, and what motivated you to stay in it professionally?
I was born with a medical condition called spina bifida. And for that, I had to undergo almost 19 surgeries on my spine and on my leg since my birth. One of the doctors at that time suggested I take up horse riding or swimming to strengthen my legs.
That's how I got into the pool and I kind of liked being in the water because I was not able to walk till the age of five. That's how I got introduced to Pool and six months down the lane I took part in a competition and then I won a silver medal there. From then I got into the competitive sport at the state and national level. So this is way back in 2003, 2004 when I first got into the pool swimming for the state.
Question: From there, your journey began and now it's something huge. Your thoughts on it
Yes indeed. I first played for India in 2013 and ever since then, I've been part of the Indian team. I was in the junior team and then I went to the senior team. I was crowned as the Junior World champion in 2015 and since then, you know, I've been consistently playing for India.
Question: You were set to participate in the Paralympics 2024, but you missed out on it. So what are your thoughts on that? Also, the next Paralympics are four years away from now. So how will you keep yourself motivated for that?
So in swimming, we have something qualifications. I was just half a second behind in the A qualification in one of the events. I was training in France for the last 6-8 months now and over the days I developed a fever and I developed a foot infection. That is pretty common with people with spina bifida and people who don't have sensation below the knee.
There was a first-degree ulcer that formed and because of that I started getting frequent fevers and frequent chills, I was not able to get into the pool as frequently as I could and I was missing out on a lot of qualification races because of my fever. When I contacted my team back in India and my doctors in India, we had to take a call on prioritizing my health first because the ulcer can lead to other complications also if not treated on time.
So I was asked to withdraw from the rest of the qualifications for Paralympics and come back home for further treatment. I've just started swimming a few sessions in a week but yeah, I'm confident of getting back. And also to answer the next part of the question, Los Angeles is 4 four years away. I wanna take it one day at a time. One competition at a time, now that I know these injuries are gonna be frequent and they are part and parcel of my medical condition because I've had this medical issue since birth.
Question: You underwent 19 surgeries, so how mentally challenging it was for you?
My first surgery was when I was as young as nine months old and my last surgery was a couple of years ago. See when you're young, you don't know what's happening. But then over the years when you are in a professional sport and then there's an injury or a surgery and then you know you're out of action for at least a minimum of 8 to 10 weeks, it takes a very different toll on yourself physically as well as mentally because you've trained so much for competitions.
So it is a very difficult period, but over the years I've understood that all these things are gonna be part and parcel of my life. I listen to what my team of Doctors says, and I've been equipped with some of the best specialist doctors in India.
Question: I also wanted to ask how your parents have contributed to your journey so far in your success so far.
I mean, my parents are my pillars. My parents and my family are my first supporters. They've given me everything that I need and they've always been there for me at my lows and at my highs. So if not for them, I don't think I would have made it so far.
Question: So what are your plans for future events? What are you looking to compete in after you complete your rehab?
Basically it's just going to be the national championship that is going to happen sometime in October end in Goa. So that is going to be my event for this year apart from the rehab and then I might fly out to Europe, that's my training base apart from India. I trained in Germany for two years and now I just shifted my train base to France and I used to represent a club in Germany as well.
I also professionally represent the club there, so I might go back there for the winter season to represent the club and next year again we have World Championships lined up in Singapore. So I'll be looking forward to getting back in good shape before that and then starting off with my qualifications and stuff next year.
