Indian Olympian Nisha Millet’s Swimming Academy Facing COVID-19 Challenges

Photo Courtesy: Nisha Millets Swimming Academy

Olympic swimmer Nisha Millet is spreading the sport in her native India via her swimming academy. But coronavirus restrictions have left her, and the thousands of swimmers in her program, high and dry.

The Nisha Millets Swimming Academy has been closed due to nationwide lockdowns caused by COVID-19 just as she hits the prime season on the calendar.

“In terms of business, we are at zero right now,” Millet told ESPN. “March (to) end-May is the high season. Swimming is perceived as a summer camp kind of sport. It’s slowly changing in places like Bengaluru because of heated pools and more people wanting to swim through the year but 60 percent of our profit still comes in during summer and this year we’ve lost that entirely.”

Millets works out of pools at 10 venues in the Bengaluru metro area in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India. The nationwide lockdown in place since March 25 has closed pools to Millet and her students. That includes more than 4,000 learn-to-swim students plus 300 competitive swimmers and adults training for triathlons, Ironmans or just doing lap swimming. She also provides one-on-one sessions and open water training. Her classes have an 8:1 swimmer-to-coach ratio.

Millet has been teaching her sport for most of the last two decades. She’s one of India’s most decorated swimmers, competing at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney as the nation’s only female swimmer.

Even as Millet can’t host classes of earn revenue, the costs of running her business remain high. At some locations, like hotel pools, she’s not responsible for maintenance. Eight of the 10 pools include rent in a profit-sharing arrangement, which offers some relief when classes aren’t happening.

Even when Millet can return to the water, it’ll be under new conditions. Social distancing will cut into revenue and increase the hours she’ll need to work to serve the same population (though her low swimmer-to-coach ratio makes the adjustment more minor). A return will bring increased work on health checks and sanitizing facilities. And families that spend money on swimming are feeling the crunch of the global economic slowdown.

But there’s no replacing what Millet does without being able to be in the pool with pupils. The closest she’s come is encouraging students to wear their swim gear at home and share the images on social media.

“I think everyone misses the pool so much that even changing into swim gear was exciting for them,” Millet said. “For me, it’s a first in 29 years that I’m not kicking about in a pool during summer.”

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