Tejaswi was forced to skip the Bangalore Nationals, and also missed the Asian Games probables' bus. She will be out of competitive swimming till December this year, and will not defend the eight gold medals she won at the junior nationals last year at Pune.

``It is disappointing that the year is turning out this way,'' lamented Tejaswi while speaking to The Express Newsline this afternoon. ``I took ill in June and doctors suspected it was malaria. Later, they said it was jaundice, and then I contracted typhoid. I have resumed practice just last week,'' Tejaswi said, a wane smile masking her frustration. The medication and ailments have taken its toll, and she will spend the next four months gaining back the seven kilogrammes she lost.

The Standard IX SD Barfiwala School, Andheri, student shot into the limelight at the National Games last year, after she won three silver and two bronze medals. She was second to national champion Nisha Millet in the 50m and 200m freestyle, and anchored Maharashtra to a silver in the relay. Tejaswi was participating in the women's event for the first time, after leaving little to achieve in the National Juniors.

Her performance caught the eye of Karnataka coach Pradeep Kumar, who invited her to join an intensive coaching programme at Bangalore -- the same programme which had drawn the Millet sisters from Tamil Nadu and Kashina Singh from Goa.

``Pradeep Sir told us that I could train at Basavanagudi along with Nisha, Reshma, Abhinaya and others for two years. He has plans of forming a crack team which would participate at international meets. But I did not want to stay away from my mother. I'm not used to staying alone....I am still too young. May be after my Xth....,'' Tejaswi says wistfully.

But the offer from Bangalore is too tempting to resist. The monthly costs of training and food is burdensome for a single parent family (Tejaswi lost her father a few years back). Tejaswi's mother drives home the point further saying: ``The Bangalore offer is very attractive, but for now, we thought it would be better for her to stay here. We have no relatives in Bangalore, and if I have to visit her, the hotel bills will only compound our problems.''

Till then, Maharashtra will continue to enjoy Tejaswi's services. ``My coach (Anand Pardeshi) wants me to aim for the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and we are working towards that,'' opines Tejaswi, confident of extending her spalshing success to the international circuit too.