Mumbai, Aug. 8 -- Rohit Benediction had outlined three boxes to tick in a season where he dove fully into his primary career in the pool after splitting it with his back-up in engineering books. He wanted to become the first Indian to go under 24 seconds in the 50m butterfly, register the best Indian timing in the 100m butterfly, and qualify for the World Championships. Over the last six weeks starting from the National Championships in late June to last week's Worlds, the 21-year-old checked all three. At the nationals in Bhubaneswar, Rohit clocked 52.57s in the 100m fly to erase Asian Games medallist Virdhawal Khade's long-standing best Indian mark (52.79) and take the gold beating the experienced Sajan Prakash. At last month's World University Games (WUG) in Germany, he clocked 23.96s in the 50m fly semi-finals to better his national record set in the heats and become the first Indian to go sub-24s in the event. Then, as a little reward, he found himself in the company of top swimmers at the Worlds in Singapore, where he signed off from the 100m fly heats. For someone only just about beginning to stroke his swimming path full-time, simply being at the Worlds was a dream. One that also presented him with a reality. "It is true that we Indians are not anywhere near the podium at the world level," Rohit said. "But I want to take the first step, somewhere." In his own ladder, that first step has come in the form of a sub-24s 50m fly timing. "My only goal from the WUG was to get into the 23s. I wanted it so badly, and so did Nihar sir." Nihar Ameen, the Dronacharya awardee swimming coach, labelled Rohit's talent as "raw" but also "massive" and "exciting". Rohit joined Ameen's Dolphin Aquatics in Bengaluru in 2021, even though it is only from this year that the coach has got the undivided focus of his trainee. "Earlier he would be tied up with his college commitments and would come and train just for a month. This year I forced him to wind up his college stuff and focus just on training. And the result is already showing," Ameen said. Rohit still has a backlog of exams to clear of his four-year civil engineering course. Born in Madurai with a birth defect of a broken thigh bone for which he took to swimming for physical strength, Rohit signed up for an engineering college the same year he enrolled into Ameen's academy. "Back then I was not a good swimmer at all. I'd always be outside the top 3 in the nationals," he said. "So, I thought if not swimming, I should have a solid background in studies." It wasn't the first time Rohit had doubts over his swimming journey. In 2019, grappling with a wave of poor results after trying out different styles - butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, individual medley - in age-group events, Rohit had almost given up on the sport. His mother convinced him to give it one last shot at the School Games Federation of India nationals. On the opening day, he came fifth in the 50m fly event. "My mind was set that this will be my last competition." Until, he came first in the next event (100m breaststroke). His mother couldn't stop crying. His swimming wouldn't stop. "That changed my swimming life," Rohit said. That, and winning gold in both 50m fly (24.39s) and 100m fly (53.89s) at the Uttarakhand National Games in January this year. "After that, I started believing that I can do something. I knew I had to work a lot to achieve better things. And the first step in that was bettering both the national marks," Rohit said. Six months later, he managed to cross that step. Much stiffer steps await, and Ameen believes there is potential - not just in fly but other events too. "He has an amazing structure for swimming, and a wide repertoire," he said. "The Worlds experience would've been an eye opener for him of the world level." The continental level will be up next, at the Asian Championships that Ahmedabad will host in October. "I want to better my record there, and hopefully get a medal," Rohit said....