She’s 13 years old and has already competed in four national championships, collected over 50 medals, and is now heading to another national tournament after recently being selected.Jalandhar-based swimming prodigy Pawani Bhatia has recently won six more medals, making the city proud with her impressive achievements in swimming at the district, state and national levels.Adding to her illustrious tally, Pawani won six medals—two gold, three silver and one bronze—at the 37th Sub Junior Punjab State Swimming Championship, held at Delhi Public School, Ferozepur, and organised by the Punjab Swimming Association.A Class VIII student at Police DAV Public School, Jalandhar, Pawani won gold medals in the 200m butterfly and the 4×100m medley relay. She secured silver medals in the 100m butterfly, 50m butterfly, and 50m breaststroke, along with a bronze medal in the 4×100m freestyle relay.She won these medals in the girls’ 13–14 years age category.The 13-year-old swimmer, daughter of physical education lecturer and swimming coach Raghuvendra Bhatia, started swimming when she was just three years old. In 2018, she won her first competition in Punjab at the age of five, on August 15, 2018.She was later honoured by former Punjab Sports Minister Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi and the then Deputy Commissioner of Jalandhar, Varinder Sharma, for her outstanding performance in sports. Pawani continued her winning streak in 2019 when, at the age of six, she won the North India Championship held in Chandigarh.Her father, Raghuvendra Bhatia, says, “We are very proud of Pawani’s achievements. She took up swimming as a little girl, and her dedication amazes even me. She has competed despite having a fever, and whether it’s sunny, rainy, or stormy, she remains unwaveringly committed to her practice schedule.”In 2023, Pawani participated in the 34th Sub Junior Punjab State Swimming Championship and won six medals—three gold and three silver.She then represented Punjab at the 39th Sub Junior National Aquatic Championship, held in Bhubaneswar from August 16 to 20, 2023, and organised by the Odisha State Swimming Association under the aegis of the Swimming Federation of India.At that time, she was only 10 years old. In the same year, she also won a gold medal at the DAV National Swimming Competition held in Noida and another gold medal at the Primary School Games State-Level Competition held in Mohali.Raghuvendra adds, “One of the biggest challenges in her training is the lack of an all-weather swimming pool in Jalandhar. For a tournament in December, she had to practise in an unheated pool. There was even a time when she competed while recovering from typhoid. She is now preparing for the upcoming National Swimming Championship in Jaipur.”