FILE PHOTO: Swimming - World Aquatics Championships - Aspire Dome, Doha, Qatar - February 12, 2024 Bhutan's Sangay Tenzin in action during the men's 200m freestyle - heat 1 REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/File Photo
PARIS (Reuters) - Bhutan's Sangay Tenzin cannot claim to have swum further or faster than his rivals at the Paris Olympics but he has certainly gone higher in pursuit of his sport.
The 20-year-old's Himalayan homeland opened its first competition-standard 25-metre pool in the capital Thimphu last May at an altitude of 2,400 metres, making it the highest in the world.
Tenzin, who normally trains at five metres above sea level in Phuket, southern Thailand, was back in the landlocked kingdom for the opening and can say he has literally experienced the highs and lows of the sport.
"From going back to my country and swimming at such high altitude, I could barely breathe at first even though I was really excited and it felt so nice," the two-times Olympian told Reuters after his 100 metres freestyle heat at the La Defense Arena.
Tenzin, who beat rivals from Africa and Vanuatu in finishing third in his heat, looked forward to seeing whether swimming at altitude had made a difference, in the same way track and field athletes get a benefit.
He also hoped to see swimming grow as a sport in a country where soccer is the main focus.
"A small ripple can make a big wave," he said.
"When there was news that the pool is going to be built in my country, so many people were so excited about it. I could already feel the enthusiasm.
"After the pool was built people were rushing to get a slot to swim... there were so many people."
The facility, financed by the world governing body, was a result of a World Aquatics 'Pools for All" programme launched in 2019 to ensure all member federations had access to top-level facilities.
Tenzin, who started out swimming in local rivers around Gelephu, is on a World Aquatics scholarship programme.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Clare Fallon)
