India's Dhinidhi Desinghu made history on Monday at the Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal, winning bronze in the women's 100-metre freestyle to become the first Indian swimmer to win a medal at the Youth Olympic Games, SwimSwam reported. The 16-year-old from Bengaluru clocked 56.27 seconds, setting a new Indian national record and lowering her own previous mark of 56.57 seconds, set at the Indian Championships in Ahmedabad on June 18.

Source: SwimSwam

Croatia's Ana Bobanovic won gold in 55.89 seconds, while New Zealand's Alyssa Lawson claimed silver in 56.13 seconds — Desinghu finished just 0.14 seconds behind Lawson. She was fifth at the 50-metre turn in 27.31 seconds but produced a powerful finish over the final 50 metres to move into third place and onto the podium.

Source: SwimSwam

56.27sDesinghu's national-record time
55.89sGold — Ana Bobanovic (Croatia)
56.13sSilver — Alyssa Lawson (New Zealand)
16Desinghu's age

The Bridge reported that the bronze opened India's medal tally in swimming at Dakar 2026 and is India's first-ever medal in the sport at the Youth Olympics; the country's previous best swimming performance at the Games was Srihari Nataraj's sixth place in the boys' 100m backstroke at Buenos Aires 2018. A day earlier, Tirthank Pegu had finished fourth in the boys' 100m butterfly, missing a medal by just 0.27 seconds.

Source: The Bridge

Desinghu was the youngest Indian in the country's Paris 2024 Olympics contingent and had earlier become the first Indian female swimmer to reach a Youth Olympics final, qualifying third-fastest in the heats in 56.80 seconds, MyKhel reported.

Source: MyKhel

Her coach Nihar Ameen said she has broken the national record three times this year and backed her for another medal in the 200m freestyle, where he said she has an even better chance. Desinghu, who once disliked swimming as a child, will contest further events in Dakar as India's campaign at the Games, being held from October 31 to November 13, continues.