Advait Page bullish about achieving 2024 Paris Olympic qualification time
Young Madhya Pradesh swimmer Advait Page, armed with recent success at the Commonwealth Games 2022, has directed all his focus on qualifying for the Paris Olympics.
The young swimmer, along with Kushagra Rawat, qualified for the final of the 1,500m freestyle category at the Commonwealth Games. This was the first time India had two swimmers take part in the final of a single race category.
Page finished seventh while Rawat came eighth, but the swimmers rewrote a new chapter in Indian swimming history.
After a successful Birmingham sojourn, Page returned to his training base in Thiruvananthapuram to train for the National Games. He has his sights set on the Paris Olympics.
In an exclusive conversation with Sportskeeda, organized by the Dream Sports Foundation and Go Sports Foundation, Advait Page said:
"Paris Olympics is a big goal in this cycle. We do have the World Championships and the Asian Games coming up next year. My plan is to use these events as a stepping stone to achieve an Olympic qualifying time."
Advait Page trains with the best in the business
Page has picked the brains of some of the best in the business during his training stint at the University of Florida. The youngster interacted with the likes of Robert Frank Ainsworth and Katie Ledecky.
Speaking about the takeaways from his training stint in Florida, Advait Page said:
"The biggest takeaway from Florida training is that it gave me a good aerobic base, huge confidence and a sense of fearlessness. I practiced the same routine that the Olympic champions were doing."
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He went on to say:
"The training sessions in Florida are very competitive and more difficult than what a normal Commonwealth finals would be because they have such quality on the team."
Page added:
"So that way, I felt like knowing that I had gone through all of that with the team for three whole seasons gave me a lot of confidence when I lined up on the blocks at Commonwealth Games. I knew I could focus and control my race."
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Advait Page is the Indian national record holder in the 1,500m freestyle event with a time of 15:23:66s. He now wants to carry the confidence he has gained from his peak performance training into the upcoming season. Page explained:
"One thing I find impressive about swimmers in Florida, not just the Olympic champions, is how they are constantly able to be better every day. They are competitive in practice, they're able to go fast, every single day."
He added about the competitive nature of practice in Florida:
"Not-so-good days are non-existent at Florida. It makes you push your limits and give your best every day."
The long-distance swimmer, currently training and participating in the National Games in Gujarat, said that following a customized plan has helped him train better for big events:
"I had a customized training program that I followed when I came back to Trivandrum The customized training is good in preparing me for specific events and I think it helps me work specifically on myself with my coach."
Advait Page plans to return to Florida to train for another year with the best in the business and hopes to learn more from that stint as well.
"I am pursuing my bachelor's degree in sports management and I have my final year left, my senior year of classes still remains. So, after the National Games, I'm going to the US to finish one final season with the Florida Gators," he said.
"After that stint, I will most likely be back training in India, maybe looking at the Asian Games and World Championships, but that still isn't set in stone."
Advait Page heaped praise on the Dream Sports Foundation and the Go Sports Foundation's program that has helped him in his career. He explained:
"I joined the GoSports and Dream Sports Foundation in 2018. It was a huge help in a lot of ways because it gave me a platform to easily access any help from experts, like in nutrition, or mentorship, or mental health, etc, and also for funding."
The youngster went on to add:
"They have helped me in exposure tips, which is a costly affair. They have also helped me with training equipment too. Another huge part of being in such a program is for the community of achievers in Indian sport. It is a huge honor. it pushes me to give my best every time."
Advait Page is certainly one of the major young athletes to watch out for in the present and the near future.
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