In a historic achievement, Nandan Naik, a 17-year-old athlete representing Varanashi Swimming Academy (VSA), Adyanadka, secured the first-ever gold medal in diving for his district at the Sub Junior and Junior State Diving Championship held in Bengaluru on July 26–27. The event, organised by the Karnataka Swimming Association at Kensington Pool, saw Nandan clinch gold in the 3-metre springboard event in the junior category with 243.95 points and a silver in the 10-metre platform dive with 136 points.
A first-year BSc student at St. Philomena College, Puttur, Nandan has been trained under the guidance of Coach Partha Varanashi, Director of VSA, alongside Coach Venkatesh in Bengaluru and Coach Vikas in Puttur and Adyanadka.
Nandan began swimming at the age of eight at Balavana Swimming Pool, Puttur, and later developed a strong interest in acrobatics and parkour, mentored by Partha. His trampoline stunts even caught the attention of Hollywood writer Peter Baynham at the age of 16.
With no diving coaches in Dakshina Kannada and the Mangala diving facility closed, Nandan trained intermittently at Varanashi Farms, where Coach Vikas introduced him to diving fundamentals. Despite only two years of irregular training, Nandan mastered advanced moves like the 2.5 backward flip, securing gold and making district history.
He has now qualified for the upcoming Junior Nationals Diving Championship, scheduled to be held in Bengaluru.