“Water is a natural healer. Swimming cleanses your soul and has a meditative effect on your body,” says 31-year-old Aman Ghai as he gears up to represent his state and country in an international tournament.Ace swimmer and ASI in Punjab Police Aman Ghai has earned international accolades for his performances in swimming competitions across India and abroad. Having won hundreds of medals and trophies over the years, he was recently conferred the prestigious Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award for sporting excellence in swimming, recognising his consistent performance over the past five years. His achievements include one gold and one silver medal at the South Asian Championship (2016), participation in the World University Games (2013 and 2015), three gold, three silver and one bronze medal at the World Police Games (2023) and one gold, three silver and two bronze medals at the World Police Games in the United States (2025). Earlier in his career, he also secured numerous medals at inter-university, junior and national-level competitions.With his father Amarjit Singh, a Punjab Police cop and in-charge of the swimming team at PAP Jalandhar, Aman Ghai developed an early interest in swimming as the sport runs in the family. While his journey began with inspiration and strong support from his father, his dedication and hard work earned him early success, starting with his first Junior National medal in 2008. Schooled at Police DAV School in Jalandhar, he benefited from strong institutional support and access to a state-of-the-art swimming pool for training. With the start of school nationals and other competitions, he also spent three to six months every year training in Bengaluru, with continued backing from his father.Aman says, “My first national medal was in Junior Nationals in 2008. After that, back-to-back accolades came all the way up to 2017–18 in the form of medals and wins, through representation in junior and senior nationals and inter-varsity tournaments. I was backed by my school and supported by my father. For 6 to 7 years, I trained for 4 to 6 months every year in Bangalore. Bangalore has the best swimming infrastructure and, be it international swimmers or those representing Punjab Police, Army, Navy or other teams, all go there to train.” He added, “My journey has been possible because of my father’s unwavering support and my coaches’ Lakhvir Singh Kang (Punjab Police) and Umesh Sharma’s (Sports College) constant motivation.” Recruited in the Punjab Police in 2017 onwards, Aman continues to train for future tournaments. Currently at Chandigarh, he prepares for the All-India Police Games. Training is also simultaneously on for the World Police Games to be held in Australia in February 2027.Taking a cue from his father, Aman is also engaged in guiding and training juniors and takes pride in the sporting talent within the ranks of the Punjab Police, both past and present. Speaking about his Olympic dream, he said, “Undoubtedly, only the best few players make it to the national Olympic swimming team. But I believe our regional swimming infrastructure has grown by leaps and bounds and if we train the coming generation right, we might see an Olympic winner in swimming from Punjab within a decade or so.”