In a bid to contribute to the development of Nepali sports, national swimmer star Sirish Gurung officially set up a Sirish Foundation on Sunday.

The 18-year-old Gurung, who represented Nepal in 100m freestyle during the 2016 Rio Olympics, said that the main objective of the Foundation was to contribute to the qualitative growth of athletes by providing them with ‘academy like’ facilities. 

“We will hunt for talents, preferably youngsters aged between 10 to 14 years old. We will come up with a long term plan for a selected few and provide them with accommodation, training and education.

The ultimate goal would be to prepare the players to win medals at international arena,” said Gurung, who holds 14 national records in swimming. 

The Foundation claims that it plans to go with a scientific nutrition plan for the selected players. It also added to make available all necessary training equipments for the targeted athletes.

Gurung said his foundation has selected 15 sports disciplines for the initial period.

The Foundation plans to raise fund from the government, National Sports Council (NSC), Nepal Olympic Committee and corporate houses. 

Coaches of various sports Bishwa Prakash Thapa, Baikuntha Manandhar, Kapil Kishor Shrestha, Sushil Narsingh Rana, Prachanda Sharma and Sangina Baidhya were among the technical experts of the foundation while Tony Prajapati and Ashis Yakthumba were listed as the trainers.

The Foundation has also formed advisory board and medical team.

As a starter, the Foundation said it will support the 12th South Asian Games wushu gold medallist Nima Gharti Magar.

“We have 16 months left for the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.

By choosing Gharti Magar, we hope our support will help Nepal strike a medal in the Games. We will not provide cash to her but help facilitate her in her training,” he said.