‘His feet are his pillars’: Nepal swimmer gives everything for glory at Asian Para Games

‘If I hit a world record then of course my life will be better. Only then can I speak of inspiring anyone else,’ Harka Man Gharti says

Every morning Harka Man Gharti slices into the blue water of a swimming pool in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, chasing a dream that stretches far beyond its 25 metres.

Unlike the swimmers around him who rely on long strokes of their arms, Gharti powers through his legs and torso because he does not have arms.

The 21-year-old is training with three other disabled swimmers who will represent Nepal in the Asian Para Games in Japan in October, chasing medals despite limited resources in the Himalayan country.

“It is not my hope, it is my target,” Gharti said after finishing a gruelling session. “Just for a medal, I am giving everything ... every possible thing.”

A decade ago an electrocution accident near a hydroelectric project in his native Baglung district in western Nepal changed his life forever, costing him both arms.

The tragedy that could have ended his ambitions instead helped forge his extraordinary determination.