LUCKNOW, Aug. 1 -- Over 300 boys and girls swim everyday in the Ganga in Chunar with a mission as they know that swimming has been the only thing which can shape their careers and give them a better living and respect. One can see these "born swimmers" live this dream and get success with each passing day and if their success rate is taken into account, one may be surprised to know that over 1,000 swimmers from the area are in jobs across the country both in government and private organisations. However, the irony of these swimmers is that they don't have an Olympic-size pool in their area even though the state government has constructed 38 across the state and people of the area believe if they get an Olympic-size pool for training, swimmers from the area can conquer the world. In fact, the areas like Gangeshwar Nath, Baalughat, Belbir and Baluaghat in Chunar, almost 25 km away from Mirzapur, are dominated by the Nishad community in a big number (around 10,000) and almost every house has swimmers. "Our day begins with swimming as we all know that swimming has been the only sport which can give us jobs, money and even recognition in the society," said former national medallist Yogeshwar, whose three brothers, including international swimmer Kailash, are also in government jobs. "Swimmers from this area are best among the lot in the state and have been winning medals at the national level for the past many years. Since they don't have an Olympic standard pool, they have been training on the Ganga banks in a makeshift pool made of bamboo and wood," said Yogeshwar. "They count their timings through a wall clock, mounted on one bamboo in the makeshift pool," he said, adding, "The success rate of Chunar swimmers can be gauged from the fact that out of 60-member teams for all age categories events in the state championships, 28 medals belong to Chunar swimmers and five of them are going to represent Uttar Pradesh in the nationals now." Yogeshwar also said most of the swimmers after completing their short NIS diploma course, which takes just six weeks, are employed as coaches, life guards at private clubs and pools in Delhi and other metropolitan cities in the country. "In fact, swimming has been our lifeline and we believe that it's the biggest gift of 'Ganga Maiyya' to the people of this area," he added. Yogeshwar isn't alone who is crying for an Olympic standard pool in the area, many others are waiting for ladyluck to smile on them. "We have a sarkari pool in Varanasi only and there are no pools in the entire region of Mirzapur. Private pools are very costly and they don't have training facilities," said another national level swimmer Umesh. In fact, Kailash has been the flagbearer of the swimming community of the area as he was the first one to get a government job after achieving success in the sport and thereafter, it became a trend for the youth of the area. Ravikumar, Sanjeev, Sachin Kumar Maurya, Nandlal and Sachin Kumar Maurya. Kailash's three other brothers Rambilash, Umesh Kumar and Yogeshwar Prasad too got central government jobs through swimming only. "We have been demanding an Olympic standard pool for the benefits of the swimmers of this area since 1983, when the district swimming association was formed by my father and now even after 43 years, no government has thought about it," said Yogeshwar. "Even in the past, many swimmers from the area went to various swimming hostels being run by the Sports Authority of India and the process is still on as now we have become a supply centre of swimmers to various states in the country," he added. Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh director, sports, RP Singh promised that in future, if conditions suited, the government will think of establishing an Olympic standard pool for the swimmers of Chunar area. "The government is doing its best for the swimmers of the area as most of them are being admitted in the state government-run swimming hostels and sports colleges every year and best of the coaches are taking care of them," he said. "In fact, the land of the stadium in Mirzapur is on the rocks and managing adequate water for the pool is something very difficult, but we are still trying our best to help the swimmers of the area," he added....