Dhinidhi Desinghu was once afraid of going into a swimming pool but on Monday, the 16-year-old made history by becoming the first-ever Indian to win a global medal in the sport after clinching a 100m freestyle bronze at the Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal.

Dhinidhi clocked 56.27s in the final to set a new national record, lowering her own previous mark of 56.57, set at the Indian Championships in Ahmedabad on June 18. The teenager from Bengaluru had earlier topped her heat in 56.80 seconds to qualify for the final as the third-fastest swimmer. Croatia’s Ana Bobanovic (56.22s) and Alyssa Lawson of New Zealand (56.53s) were the only swimmers quicker than her in the heats.

Dhinidhi’s medal also opened India’s account at the ongoing Youth Olympics.

The prodigy, who made her senior Olympics debut in Paris at 14, was more happy with her timing.

“I wanted the gold and my plan was to go sub-56s. When I saw the result on the board, I was not exactly thrilled.…