– Accalia Khan plans to succeed in life

By Jacinta Cave
SEVENTEEN – year – old Accalia Khan, a former student of Bishops’ High School and present student at Nations University, could be hailed for being an efficient and exemplary student and swimmer.

This young lady juggles the tasks of training for competitive swimming and studying on a daily basis. Swimming edged its way into Accalia’s life at the age of three, as it was noted as a necessary survival skill by her mother. From there on, she flourished and showed

exceptional skill in this field, competing at the National Schools Championships.

Accalia has done this from primary school into high school and gained many medals along the tedious path. During an exclusive interview with Chronicle Sport, Accalia said, “I draw inspiration from many great athletes but swimming isn’t something that just feeds off of inspiration; I myself had to want to do it or it wouldn’t be done.”

Even though she is fully committed to swimming, Accalia has also participated in other sporting activities and extra-curricular activities, such as ballet, lawn tennis and karate.

Being one of Guyana’s forefront swimmers, Accalia believes that she has contributed to the overall development of the sport in the country.

“I have represented my country many times and I have medalled, hence bringing something back home,” she said.

“Also, I have influenced and helped many swimmers throughout the years either in the pool or out of the pool. I made people believe that they can swim and do school at the same time and I hope I keep doing that; you need both.”

OVERCOMING CHALLENGES
Accalia intends to continue contributing to Guyana’s swimming arena.However, she has faced her fair share of challenges as she strives to excel.

She has suffered numerous injuries in the sport and had to take time off to focus on her exams. However, these did not deter her from accomplishing her goals.
As a matter of fact, the challenges have helped Accalia to become a better person. In 2013, Accalia received her first individual bronze medal in the 100m and 200m freestyle. She was also awarded the ‘age group swimmer’ of the year, when she was younger.
Accalia noted that while swimming has made her a “more disciplined and hardworking person,” she also gained many social skills and made new friends.

“There’s that moment when Coach gives warm up and you first jump into the pool and there’s this surreal quietness; it’s like I’m at peace for that second…” Accalia said as she described her love for the sport.
Her advice to others who may want to join the sport: “Discipline, drive/intrinsic motivation to want to better yourself.
Even though swimming is individual, most times you still train as a team, so your attitude must be positive most times; positivity drives a team to do better.”

(Jacinta Cave is a student of Bishops’ High School on work attachment at the Guyana Chronicle)