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Inter IIT Alumni Sports League

Official account for information related to Inter IIT Alumni Sports League (IIASL)
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25/03/2026

The 20-Year-Old Balancing IIT and IRONMAN Races: Renee Noronha (IIT Madras)

Most students find the academic intensity of IIT Madras challenging enough on its own. But at just 18, Renee decided to add a full-distance 226 km IRONMAN to her semester schedule.

While pursuing her B.S. in Data Science and Applications from IIT Madras, Renee became the youngest female athlete in the world to complete a full-distance IRONMAN. In June 2025, she completed her second IRONMAN in Germany at IRONMAN Hamburg – The European Championship. She didn’t just finish the race—she conquered a 3.8 km swim, a 180 km bike ride, and a 42.2 km marathon, crossing the finish line in 14 hours and 04 minutes.

Her training for her first race took place in the relentless Indian heat, across long-run loops, early-morning swim sessions, and weekend brick workouts—all while balancing college deadlines, exams, and projects. And even before stepping onto the IRONMAN stage, Renee was already an athlete, having trained as a professional gymnast for 10 years.

Renee is living proof that you don’t have to “pick a lane.” You can be a committed student and an endurance athlete at the same time. In her case, the discipline demanded by one is exactly what fuels success in the other.

25/03/2026

The IITian Who Built a Career on Recess: Saumil Majmudar (IIT Bombay ‘93)

Most people barely have enough time to sleep at IIT Bombay. Saumil Majmudar somehow found the time to play state-level badminton, represent the institute in football, and earn a black belt in Karate.

He basically lived on the campus fields, eventually becoming the Sports Secretary for Hostel 7. After graduating in ‘93 with a degree in Metallurgy and doing the standard corporate grind (including a stint at Wipro and founding an early tech startup), he noticed a massive problem: Indian kids had stopped playing outside. Academic pressure and shrinking playgrounds were keeping an entire generation indoors.

So, he pivoted. Majmudar took the sports management skills he learned organizing Inter-IIT tournaments and turned them into a massive enterprise.

He co-founded Sportz Village (formerly EduSports) with one goal: get kids playing again. Today, it’s India’s largest youth sports organization. They’ve partnered with thousands of schools to rebuild physical education from the ground up, getting over 6 million kids off the couch and onto the turf. He even took the model to national TV on Aamir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate.

As Majmudar likes to joke, he’s one of the rare alumni who actually built a career out of his IIT extracurriculars instead of his engineering degree.

12/03/2026

From Best Outgoing Sportsman to Billion-Dollar Founder and Elite Triathlete: Yashish Dahiya (IIT Delhi ‘94)

During his time at IIT Delhi, Yashish Dahiya didn’t just survive the academic grind; he completely dominated the sports arena. He served as the General Secretary of the Sports Association and ultimately graduated as the Best Outgoing Sportsman for his 1994 batch.

After finishing his B.Tech, Dahiya pursued management degrees at IIM Ahmedabad and INSEAD, climbing the corporate ladder as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company and later as the Managing Director of ebookers.com. In 2008, recognizing a massive gap in transparency within the Indian insurance market, he co-founded Policybazaar. Under his leadership, the company completely revolutionized the insurtech space, joining the unicorn club in 2018 and growing into a digital powerhouse that hosts over 100 million visitors a year.

But building a multi-billion dollar empire was only one part of his extreme endurance journey. What makes Dahiya a true anomaly is that his athletic career actually accelerated in his thirties. He only began learning to swim at the age of 35. By age 40, his relentless discipline paid off,he won gold and silver medals in the 400m and 200m freestyle events at the national masters swimming championships, ultimately earning the right to represent India at the Masters Swimming World Championship in Kazan.

At 44, he decided to take on an entirely new beast: the triathlon. Balancing his duties as a CEO, he trained rigorously, sometimes even cycling 60km from his home in Noida to his office in Gurgaon just to fit his workouts in. He went on to conquer the Ironman Kalmar in Sweden, a brutal 3.86km swim, 180km cycle, and 42km run,finishing in under 12 hours despite severe stomach cramps. Today, he holds one of the fastest Full Ironman timings among Indians across all age groups.

Even in his fifties, Dahiya refuses to slow down. In 2022, he completed the Rotterdam Marathon in an astounding 3 hours and 7 minutes, qualifying for the prestigious Boston Marathon. Yashish Dahiya is an inspiration to all.

10/03/2026

Nitesh Kumar was born on December 30, 1994, in Bas Kirtan, Rajasthan. Growing up as the son of a Navy officer, his ultimate childhood dream was simple: to follow in his father’s footsteps, join the defense forces, and serve the nation.
In 2009, when Nitesh was just 15 years old, during a school trip to Visakhapatnam, he was involved in a horrific train accident that severely damaged his left leg, ultimately resulting in its loss.
Suddenly, his football dreams and his aspirations of joining the armed forces were shattered. Realising his physical sporting career seemed over, Nitesh channeled all his legendary grit into academics. In 2013, his hard work paid off, and he secured admission into the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi to pursue a degree in Electrical Engineering.
A massive turning point happened when he had a chance encounter with Pramod Bhagat, a world champion para-shuttler. Bhagat inspired Nitesh to take up para-badminton professionally, specifically in the SL3 class. He spent countless hours on the court, balancing his engineering coursework with grueling physical training. In fact, he was so dedicated to his degree that he actually skipped the 2017 World Championships because it clashed with his seventh-semester exams.
Nitesh officially made his debut at the Para Nationals in 2016, representing Haryana.
2017: Won his first international title at the Irish Para-Badminton International.
2020: Defeated Tokyo Paralympic medalists Pramod Bhagat and Manoj Sarkar at the Nationals to clinch Gold.
2022: Racked up medals at the World Championships and Asian Para Games, quickly climbing to World No. 3.

Nitesh entered the 2024 Paris Paralympics as the World No. 1 in the Men’s Singles SL3 category. He dominated the tournament, remaining completely unbeaten.

10/03/2026

Waitlist form is live 💪, link in the bio.
Inter IIT Alumni Sports League presents Founding Edition of Pan-IIT Road Race 2026.
Compete . Reconnect . Represent

09/03/2026

“IIT Athletes you should know“
From Track Star and BC Roy Gold Medalist to Lifetime Achiever: Richard D’Souza (IIT KGP ‘71, NA, RP)

During his time at IIT-Kharagpur, Richard D’Souza flexed his mental and athletic prowess. While at KGP, he competed in track and found himself at the top, setting records in the 100 m, 200 m, and 400 m races. Prof. Kingshook Bhattacharyya, recalls that the records D’Souza set stood for nearly 50 years- proving to be considered untouchable at Inter. Bhattacharyya continued, “To put it into context, at that time it was possible to get a medal at senior state and even some national level competitions in 100 m, 200 m and 400 m with his timings. Also all his timings were achieved without proper coaching and on a grass track with very basic running gear.” D’Souza brought home the Bhandarkar Cup awarded by Gymkhana as the best outgoing all-rounder. D’Souza also found himself at the top of the class, earning the BC Roy Gold Medal for IIT All-Around Performance in 1971.
In 2015, D’Souza received the Lifetime Achievement Award by SNAME (Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers). During that time, Richard was serving as Senior Vice President of Granherne at KBR. The award was given to him for his exceptional contributions toward advancing naval architecture and marine engineering in the offshore industry. “It is an honor that I proudly accepted on behalf of Granherne and the many naval architects and ocean engineers I have hired and mentored over my 40-year career.” In 2019, D’Souza was awarded The Blakely Smith Medal for Outstanding Accomplishment in Ocean Engineering. D’Souza spent much of his career in Texas but relocated to Maryland with his wife Dr. Rena D’Souza who was named as the Director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

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