Tirthank Pegu is making waves at the Youth Olympic Games.

The 17-year-old from Assam became the first Indian male swimmer to win a medal at the Youth Games after finishing third in the 200m butterfly event in Dakar, Senegal. Pegu clocked 2:01.25 in the final after qualifying as the fastest swimmer from the heats.

The bronze came after he narrowly missed out on a medal in 100m, where he was fourth in 54.98 seconds, just 0.27 seconds behind the last podium finisher. The miss initially left Pegu all jittery ahead of the 200m butterfly race, but the desire to clinch a medal kept him going.

“I was really nervous and not so confident because of the result in 100m. I was worried, ‘what if I disappoint my coach, Sandeep [Sejwal] sir, and everybody?’ During the race, I was just thinking about winning a medal,” Pegu said on Monday.

Having achieved his objective, Pegu is delighted. “It was my dream to win a medal at the Youth Olympics. My coach and I worked for this particular competition the whole year. So I am feeling really good right now,” he said.

Pegu, who took up swimming at the age of four, has set his sights on becoming the first Indian swimmer to reach an Olympic final. “My main goal is to qualify for the final in the Olympics. I have been wishing for this from a very young age”.