Kanchanmala Pande was not a very renowned name in Indian sports until recently. On December 7, the visually-impaired swimmer scripted history after she won the gold medal in Para Swimming Championship in Mexico. She is now the first woman para-swimmer to win a gold medal at the world championship.
Pande won the 200 meters individual medley event in the S-11 category. After winning the medal, Pande told the media that even though she expected a gold, her victory was no less than a surprise for her.
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Here’s the moment when she made the entire country proud:
According to reports, Pande was the only Indian swimmer to qualify in the women’s category despite the fact that she missed a medal in the 100m freestyle by a little margin. She stood fifth in 100m breaststroke and backstroke.
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Her journey to the World Swimming Championship Gold was not at all a cake walk. Earlier in the month of July, she participated in the Para Swimming Championships in Germany where she faced a tough time. She was forced to beg in Berlin as she didn’t receive the amount sanctioned for her expenses by the Indian government in time. She was even fined once for travelling without a ticket on public transport in Germany.
Even under such circumstances, Pande didn’t give up and went on to win the silver medal to qualify for the World Championship.
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The 26-year-old para-swimmer hails from the city of Amravati and works with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
