Sounds of people cheering filled the air, pressure building as swimmers mounted the blocks to begin their race. Despite the noise around him, Saahil Kajarekar (12) recalls remaining focused, visualizing every aspect of his imminent race. When he heard the start signal, he dove gracefully into the water, letting muscle memory guide him through each stroke. As he reached the end of the pool, he emerged from the water, with his successful race a testament to his resilience and dedication over the years.

Since his first experience of learning how to somersault underwater, Saahil continued swimming throughout his life. Saahil joined his first swimming club at seven years old. Now, he swims for Harker and the Sunnyvale Swim Club, with swim practices often consuming upwards of three to four hours a day.

“Swimming is all about making small changes that over time lead to bigger ones,” Saahil said. “That’s the exact same way I have to approach everything. You have to take things one step at a time with a larger goal in mind in order to actually achieve anything.”

Despite failing the 100-yard butterfly race at one of his first swim meets, Saahil refused to let it stop him. Since then, he refined his skills and improved, determined not to be held back by his lack of ability. By making a consistent effort and taking small steps toward his larger goal, Saahil’s dedication to swimming paid off over the years, both within and outside of swimming.

“The butterfly is hard, and the first time I ever swam it, I got disqualified four times,” Saahil said. I think I cried and I was in shambles after that happened. I was like eight back then, and I was like, ‘I’ve got to get better at it,’” 

For the next four years, Saahil practiced the butterfly the most, dramatically improving his time and becoming the fastest in his group at that style. However, staying focused on his own improvement did not stop Saahil from extending a helping hand to others. 

Close friend and swim teammate Adam Pawliger (11) expresses gratitude for Saahil’s willingness to take the time to help him outside of practice.

“I remember last year when I was starting to get more serious about swimming, he would stay after practice with me and help me work on my technique and my dives,” Adam said. “He’d always give me very constructive feedback. I really appreciated him doing that for me, because he had a lot more experience. I think that really helped me further down the road.”

Saahil’s commitment to his sport is also apparent to those around him. Upper school history teacher James Tate, who taught Saahil in his junior year, commends his ability to focus on his interests.

“He knows what his interests are and he pursues them,” Tate said. “That’s so important for someone of his age: [not doing] what other people tell you to do, because that will lead you down a bad road. But he identifies things that he genuinely likes, and they motivate him, and I think the key for him is to keep doing what he’s doing.”

During his free time, Saahil enjoys reading fiction books such as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and listening to indie music and popular old songs, a shared interest with his father that brings him closer to his family. In addition to helping him focus during loud swim meets, Saahil appreciates being able to understand the author’s creativity and goals.

“I like to appreciate reading fiction books as, art,” Saahil said. “It’s how the author expresses their creativity. When I read a book, I see how the author’s experiences have played into it and what biases they have. It’s very fun to learn about people through a piece of media they have created.”

Saahil’s interest in learning about human behavior extends to his academic courses as well. After taking economics in his sophomore year, Saahil grew interested in learning how people’s thoughts and actions could be explained and predicted quantitatively.

“I think my love for econ comes from the fact that it’s sort of impossible because microeconomics tries to convert human actions and behaviors into numbers and tries to predict human behavior,” Saahil said. “Of course, it’s extremely flawed because every action has so many different factors put into it. But the fact that they’re trying to do that in and of itself impresses me and makes me want to try to further the field.”

Close friend and swim teammate Diya Mukherjee (12) notes Saahil’s dependability and down-to-earth attitude, unafraid to tell his friends the straightforward truth. Although he might come off as quiet at first, his more outgoing side and sarcastic sense of humor never fail to start conversations between his friends.

“A lot of the time we’ll be at the lunch table and we’ll kind of bring up a topic of conversation when it’s really quiet, like everyone’s tired or something that day. And he’ll bring up a topic of conversation that all of a sudden gets people talking,” Diya said.

Saahil remains motivated toward his goals, seeking to leave no regrets behind. Looking forward, he believes that as long as he remains focused on his objective, he will continue to improve in whatever he pursues. Even if things might not go as planned, Saahil always seeks to find enjoyment in everything he does.

“As long as I have a goal that I want to work towards or as long as I’m making progress towards it, I’m learning things along the way that in and of themselves, make it worth it. Because looking back , there wasn’t really a time when I was bored and sitting back and wasting away. There was always something I was doing, something that I enjoyed doing.”