Incheon, South Korea: Adnan Esmail Muthasim was a split second slower while diving into the pool on Monday morning. The 13-year-old swimmer from Maldives really did not mind. After all, this is not his age to belong to the world of men competing for gold at an Asian Games.

Muthasim was apprehensive as he lined up against Vietnam’s Tran Duy Khol and Yousuf Al Washali of Yemen in the opening heat of the men’s 50-metre backstroke. As he waited for the starter’s gun, Muthasim glanced sidewards towards his Yemeni opponent.

Before he could turn his gaze the race had begun. The swimmer from Vietnam won the heat with a time of 30.44 seconds while the Maldives teen finished at the back in 37.62 seconds. As he hoisted his burly frame out of the water and walked towards the mixed zone, Muthasim had a smile on his face.

“That race felt like it was never going to end. But yet, this is like a dream for me. It is my first time at an Asian Games and I hope this is the start of a long, long journey in swimming for me,” Muthasim explained his reason for joy.

Muthasim took up swimming when he was four years old, and that too at the insistence of his parents who explained to him that he needed to do something about controlling his weight.

“My parents felt it would be good for me and my brother to do swimming other than any other sport. So I really did not have a choice, but went along with it,” he explained.

His parents’ choice became his when he agreed to shift residence and school in Sri Lanka so that he could get an adequate exposure to competitive swimming. Now in Grade IX, Muthasim is a regular competitor at inter-school meets in Sri Lanka and back home in Maldives.

“I see a future for me in this sport. This Games is like the start of a career for me. I like studies, but I love swimming more,” he beamed.

With older brother Mohammad also representing the Maldives, Muthasim has a little sibling rivalry going on at this competition. “I want to swim better than him [Mohammad]. I have already beaten him in the 200-metre freestyle [on Sunday] and I hope I can get better and beat him always,” Muthasim promised.

That goal is only for the moment. In the longer run he has his sights set on bigger things. “Competing in th Olympic Games would be great, and that would be my next big goal,” he added.