India, Nov. 2 -- On Monday, Dhinidhi Desinghu slapped the touchpad, lifted her goggles and looked up at history. The 16-year-old became the first Indian swimmer to win a medal at the Youth Olympic Games. Swimming in lane three in the 100m freestyle final in Dakar, the Bengaluru teen was not in contention at the halfway mark. The race appeared to belong to Turkey, Croatia and New Zealand.

But over the final 15 metres, Dhinidhi summoned a remarkable burst of speed, going past Turkey's Beren Basaran in lane 6, and into Indian swimming history. She won bronze with a timing of 56.27secs, a national record. It bettered her own previous record - 56.57s - set at the Senior National Championships in June.

The gold and silver went to Croatia's An...