‘I need to prove myself at the Asian championships,’ says Benedicton Rohit

Swimmer Benedicton Rohit realised his childhood dream and fulfilled his coach Nihar Ameen’s wish when he became the first Indian to clock sub-24 seconds (23.96s) in the 50m butterfly at the World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr (Germany) on July 17.

“Sub-24 was the aim. My coach always used to tell me that I should be the first Indian to achieve it. I came very close (towards achieving it) and missed in the (senior) Nationals (in June). I so wanted it there (in Odisha), especially since I had set a record in the 100m butterfly (52.57s) on the first day itself. But I missed the best Indian time (24.09s) by two microseconds (24.11s).

Also Read | Swimmers Srihari, Rohit set new marks in World University Games

“As far as I can remember, ever since I had come to know of the concept of the ‘Best Indian Time,’ I’ve always wanted to set that record in the 50m butterfly. I only recently began doing the 100m butterfly, but 50m butterfly is something I like very much and have been doing from a young age,” he said on Saturday (July 26, 2025), speaking over a phone call from the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.

Setting the record helped Rohit finish only sixth in his leg of the semifinals. Asked for his takeaway from his feat, he said: “Being ‘India’s fastest’ gives confidence. But I couldn’t even qualify for the finals (even with that record). I have to set my standards high. In the International stage, the range is very different.”

He admitted that this year has been the best of his career so far, having made it to the World Championships (with B-time finishes in the 100m and 50m butterfly events at the senior Nationals) and the Asian swimming championships to be held in October in Ahmedabad.

“From the National Games at the beginning of the year, my performances have been getting better. I won the 100m butterfly gold for the first time at the National level in the National Games, then clinched gold in the 100m and 50m butterfly at the senior Nationals,” he said.

Speaking of his experience at his maiden World Championships, he said: “I’m getting to know what it is like to experience a meet of this scale. Even in the World University Games, you wouldn’t get all the top-most players. But World Championships is the highest level of swimming. All over the world, the highest level is the World Aquatics Championships and the Olympics. All top swimmers will come. I’m getting to see in person the world record-holders I had been watching on TV for a long time. It’s a good feeling.”

The 21-year-old, who took up swimming as a form of exercise for his birth defect (a fractured right thigh bone), had almost quit in 2019. Rohit, who identifies himself as a sprinter (specialising in the 50m and 100m events), was frustrated that he couldn’t break through the stiff competition in the sprint events and decided to participate in one last tournament before giving up swimming altogether. It was his mother’s idea to try for one last time before giving up. Having tasted success with a 100m breaststroke gold in the School Games Federation of India (SGFI) swimming Nationals, he stayed on.

In his desperation for success, he had shifted his focus from butterfly and tried his luck in various other strokes. “I tried backstroke and breaststroke sprint, 200m backstroke and breaststroke, and 400m individual medley, and at one time began despising all the events since I couldn’t find success,” he said.

It was his current coach Nihar Ameen, who asked him to focus on butterfly again when he began training under him during the lockdown.

“He said my fly stroke is good and unique. He changed me completely with customised training. He knows my capacity, and my strengths and weaknesses when compared with the other swimmers. Now, my main events are 50m and 100m butterfly.”

He aims to qualify for the 2028 LA Olympics in those two events.

But before that, he has a point to prove at the Asian championships. “Already, many of them have started saying that I was able to set the record because of pure luck. That I can’t sustain and all. I need to prove myself there,” he said.