Recently two Indian swimmers defied the barrier of age to set a benchmark and act as role models to inspire people to engage in challenges of Open Water Swimming. Both were a testimony to the courage, relentless spirit, mental resilience and tapping reserves of energy to the optimum. It is very rare for Indians to navigate Open Water Sea Swimming challenges above or near age of 50, unlike international swimmers. Both are an inspiration for people in taking up Open Water Sea Swimming Challenges, even in a late age.
It is notable that no Indian swimmer over age of 50 has swum any of the major oceans like the English Channel, Palk Strait, Cook Strait etc., while internationally quite a few over aged over 65, have been successful. Being a Channel swimmer myself and over age of 55, still swimming around 5km daily, I hope Indians even after 60 endeavour to embark on the challenge and conquer obstacles in adventure or long-distance swimming. No Indian above age of 50 has swum the Channel.
I really aspire a day will come when an Indian swimmer above ages of 50 and 60 would cross the Channel, and thus we need to motivate quite a handful to embark on the endeavour.
Shirish Patki swimming from Gateway of India to Atal Setu on November 17th setting age record
Pune resident belonging to Neco Sky Park, Vishal Nagar Pimple Nilakh and retired banker, Shirish Anant Patki(65), achieved a stupendous feat by completing a solo 16 km sea swim from Gateway of India to Atal Setu in a time of 4 hours and 17 minutes on November 17, 2024. The event, held on a chilly Sunday morning, was organized under the jurisdiction of the by Mumbai Sea Swimmers under the supervision of the Maharashtra Amateur Aquatic Association.
Patki’s achievement is remarkable as no Indian at his age has previously completed a solo swim of a distance extending more than 15 kilometres. This landmark feat seals a permanent niche in the annals of Indian aquatic sports.
Earlier a keen badminton player, Patki took to swimming at the age of 50 after facing a major bike accident which resulted in the removal of his right-hand radial head. Swimming now turned into his passion, and he has since won innumerable medals and trophies at state and national swimming competitions.
Recollecting the event, Patki described overcoming initial barriers including encountering waste in the sea, and combating sense of fatigue as he made his voyage. Finally, his relentless spirit won him the day to trod over the finish line under the Atal Setu Bridge, India’s longest bridge.
“I stood at the starting point with my heart racing—not from fear, but from the adrenaline of this challenge,” Patki said, narrating the soul searching experience.
Siddhartha Agarwal becomes oldest Indian to swim English Channel at the age of 49
Siddhartha Agarwal, a 49-year-old swimmer from Bengaluru, made ripples in Indian swimming history by becoming the oldest Indian to swim across the English Channel. Agarwal successfully crossed the 42-km stretch between England and France on August 29, completing the gruelling journey in an impressive 15 hours and six minutes.
Agarwal’s journey in the freezing waters of the English Channel first began in 2018 when he crossed the Channel as a member v of an eight-member relay team. Ironically, this was the same year when Srikaanth Viswanathan, became the oldest to swim the English Channel solo at the age of 46.
The final 10 km of his swim posed the most arduous challenge, as he relentlessly waged a battle against hazardous conditions and high tides, triggered by winds reaching approximately 25 miles per hour.
“Until I actually completed the swim, I never believed that I could actually do this. It took me a while for it to sink in. What worked for me was that I trusted my coach, I believed in the process and just focused on what I needed to do that week and that month,” Siddhartha was quoted as saying in a release from Swim Life.
The gruelling preparations for the solo swim under tutelage of coach Satish Kumar, a former international swimmer himself, posed the most daunting challenge. His crystallisation from novice into marathon swimmer at such a late stage, was an epic story in itself.
“I was never a swimmer; at best I would splash around in the pool at my school as a kid. To inculcate the discipline and clock those regular hours in the pool despite my role as an entrepreneur in real estate and family commitments was the real challenge that excited me,” Agarwal said.
“The preparations would start with 3km swims, at a pace of 2min 15secs per 100m. The distance would increase and the pace would reduce as we got closer to the date of the solo swim. Satish was a real taskmaster, his rules were simple: If you can’t achieve that day’s target of distance and pace, he would cancel out the enter session as invalid and start afresh the following day,” he added.
With the escalating popularity of endurance sports among Indians across age groups, open water swimming is popularising with professional avenues like Swim Life opening doors paving way for amateur swimmers to adopt a new challenge and pursue a fitness routine to transform lifestyle.
Satish, coach of Siddhartha, felt this feat will set a benchmark and motivate several others to take up open water swimming.
“Sid is really a man on a mission when he sets his sight on a goal. It wasn’t easy swimming the channel. Though the swim was for 15 hours, the training was for 15 months. We had trained and mastered every aspect of the channel before the swim,” Satish said.
“With his incredible discipline and dedication, Sid could fight the most challenging situations in the sea on that day. This success comes as a huge inspiration for amateur swimmers, regardless of their age, who are dreaming of achieving similar feat in their lifetime.”
Harsh Thakor is a freelance journalist who swam the English Channel in 15 hrs 2 mins in 1988 and Lake Zurich International
