Vedant Bapna, a 16-year old student of ISC (Commerce) at the Bombay Scottish School in Mumbai won four medals – a gold, two silver and a bronze – at the recently concluded Khelo India Youth Games 2020 held at Guwahati between January 9-22, 2020. Vedant is the son of Nidhi and Dushyant Bapna and the grandson of Nayna and Pradeep Dahyabhai Kothari.
 

Representing the state, Vedant won a gold in the 200m backstroke event, silvers in the 100m backstroke and medley relay and a bronze in the free relay. 

Vedant is part of the Glenmark Aquatic Foundation (GAF), a not-for-profit CSR initiative of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited established in 2015 and dedicated to promote competitive swimming in India. 
 

Last year, he won two gold medals at the Khelo India Youth Games held at Pune in January, two gold medals and a silver at the 36th Sub-Junior & 46th Junior National Aquatic Championships held in Rajkot in June and a number of other medals at various championships across the country.

Prior to that Vedant won a bronze at the 9th Asian Age Group Championship 2017, Tashkent and a silver and a bronze at the Speedo Thailand Age Group Swimming Championships 2018, besides medals at other state and national level competitions.

Nidhi Bapna, Vedant's mother, says, “Vedant was active in sports right from his childhood and loved to swim. Once he entered the water it was difficult to get him to come out. It has been tough getting him to balance studies and sports, and on three occasions he had to miss the Nationals because of injuries. But he has managed to overcome these difficulties each time.”
 

The young swimmer Vedant, says, “I train around the year - but Khelo India is one of the most important events so I put in extra practise for the meet. My dream is to represent the country at the Olympics.”

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