What do you call it when a university that hardly makes news for sporting achievements, bags 12 national level medals within 20 days? Yes, it’s a windfall for Utkal University, the oldest and biggest of Odisha! What makes these achievements all the more significant is that all 12 medals have been secured single-handedly by woman swimming ace, Pratyasa Ray.

A PG student in Sociology, Pratyasa won six medal (4 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) at the ongoing 4th Khelo India University Games (KIUG) in Guwahati between February 19 to 22, and another six (2 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze) at the All India Inter-University Aquatics Championship in Chennai between February 2 to 4.

In fact, Pratyasa has been making Utkal proud in the pool since 2021. Within a span of 26 months, the 22-year-old international swimmer has bagged a total of 21 medals (8 gold, 10 silver, 3 bronze) for Utkal in All India Inter-University Aquatics Championships and Khelo India University Games.

Surprisingly, Pratyasa’s amazing achievements have not received the recognition or reward it deserves from the 80-year-old higher education hub of the State. Though universities play important roles in developing students into elite-class athletes, Utkal has never lived up to its reputation in this area.

On the other hand, despite being a private university, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), has achieved world-wide fame, mainly because of its state-of-the-art sports facilities and impressive achievements by its student athletes.

It’s a different matter that at the 4th KIUG, 14 athletes won three medals in three disciplines for KIIT Deemed to be University, while Pratyasa alone bagged six medals in one discipline for Utkal. But where is recognition for the rising star in swimming?

Only a handful of Utkal University officials were present at the Bhubaneswar airport to greet Pratyasa when she returned home from Guwahati yesterday. Interestingly, the to-&-fro flight tickets for Pratyasa were provided by Odisha-IIS Swimming HPC, where she trains. As per their provision, Utkal University offered train fare which was not accepted for obvious reasons.

Isn’t it time for Utkal University to give sports promotion the priority it highly deserves? Let Vani Vihar, the home of Utkal, celebrate the splendid achievements of Pratyasa with a befitting felicitation ceremony and make the swimmer feel proud of her alma mater.