Shilpa Dhamija, Pune: Disabled children won 150 medals for India at last week's Special Olympics Summer Games in Shanghai.

Gauri Gadgil, one of the medal winners always wanted to make her mother proud of her.

But last week at the Special Olympics Summer Games in Shanghai, Gauri went a step further she made her country proud too, winning a silver medal in the 25-metre butterfly stroke event.

"I worked hard. My teachers are proud and I entertained. It's a very difficult thing to do," says Gauri Gadgil. When Gauri started swimming seven years back, it was to improve her alertness.

But the 16-year-old took to swimming like a duck to water, winning several national-level competitions en route to her Olympic silver medal.

"She used to practice a lot. If she would practise until she perfected the aspects she was weak in," says Saurabh Deshpande, Gauri's coach.

Gauri's day starts early she swims for four hours from six in the morning everyday. Her mother says swimming has done more for Gauri than she could have ever hoped for.

"We now understand what is right and what is wrong for her. Her behaviour with her sister has also changed," says Sneha Gadgil, Gauri's proud mother.

"I will practise more and get the gold next time," adds Gauri.

Today this mentally challenged teenager is proud to have won a medal for her country at the Special Olympics.

Swimming helped Gauri to improve her personality as well. But most of all, it taught her to swim against all odds and become a winner.