He has been participating in swimming competitions since the age of eight. "I think I have always been a ‘water-baby’ and have a great love for both pool and sea swimming. As far back as I can remember our family holidays included a beach or a pool. At the age of six, while at a hotel pool in Goa, I gave my parents quite a fright when I tried to chase a ball across a pool forgetting that I did not have my ‘water wings’ on! That was the beginning for me. I was enrolled the very next day with (coach) Vispy Besania and it has been a tremendously fruitful journey,” says Hormuz Baliwalla.
Now 19, Baliwalla competes in the Men’s Open category. On January 13, 2013, he made a clean sweep of medals in that category at the MIG Club’s Inter Club Meet, winning six golds and the individual championship. At the beginning of February, at the YMCA Inter Club Meet, he stood first in the 100 m freestyle, anchored the team of the Cricket Club of India (CCI) to two more golds in the relays and won silver medals in the butterfly and backstroke events, adding to his tally of several hundred medals and still counting! Baliwalla had made quite a splash in 2012 too. "I won many medals at the Mumbai University Inter-Collegiate Swim Meet and at the Greater Mumbai Amateur Aquatic Association’s Senior District Championship,” relates the second year BCom student of H. R. College of Commerce. "I feel extremely proud when I represent H. R. at Inter-Collegiate swimming meets and I have the unique distinction of winning medals for the College in swimming and water polo.”
"Hormuz is privileged to represent and train at the prestigious CCI under the expert eye of Besania,” says Hormuz’s father Zarir, himself a sports enthusiast. "Vispy Sir, as we affectionately call him, is the man who taught me how to swim, way back in 2000. He has been my coach ever since and the strong force behind my medals. We share an excellent rapport and he perfectly understands the types of workouts I need to improve my performance, whether it’s the stroke or the power. His dedication to my coaching has made me the swimmer I am today,” Hormuz acknowledges. The CCI has been "extremely generous in giving me playing/sports membership since the last four years,” he adds, with the swim committee allowing them exclusive use of more than half their pool every morning. "This is indeed a luxury and helps us young swimmers to focus totally on our workouts and drills. We are also provided with dry land training facilities at the Club, which is an added bonus.” His local gym too has given Hormuz free membership for the last four years and "I do my weight training there with my personal trainer.”
Father Zarir has been buoy and anchor, the swimmer notes. "He has attended every single one of my meets. I cannot recall even one meet where I have not had him standing at the edge of the pool, willing me to succeed with his cry of ‘Come on, Hormuz, you can do it.’ His passion for the sport and his dedication has inspired me to do my best in the pool.” Hormuz mentions that he did however have to face two major disappointments last year, "when I could not take part at the state championship due to the pressure of exams and later when I had to withdraw from the CCI Inter-Club Meet due to a strong bout of viral fever.”
Swimming has brought discipline into his life, the collegian observes. "Bedtime at 10 p.m. means I can be at my best in the pool at 6 a.m., when training starts. As I grow older I realize that smoking or drinking would affect my performance in the pool. Swimming has given me a lot of self-confidence and mental as well as physical strength.”