Queeni Victoria Gandam makes landmark splashes in Open Water Swimming becoming first woman swimmer from Andhra Pradesh to cross English Channel and with her son the first-ever mother-son duo to swim from Mandwa to Gateway of India
Queeni Victoria Gandam made two sensational splashes in the Open Waters., in recent times. First, she became the 1st woman swimmer from state of Andhra Pradesh or Telengana to cross the English Channel last June and few days ago with her son, the first ever duo to swim from Mandhawa to Gateway of India.
Queeni, a fashion designer by profession, also enjoys cooking.
Amazingly she seriously took up swimming at the ripe age of 43. Queeni, who ventured into serious swimming only in 2018. “As a child, I learnt swimming and cycling because my grandfather believed it was a skill every boy and girl should have,” she recalls. The turning point unfolded in her life when she began taking her children for swimming practice, when she received her first motivation to endeavour into serious swimming.
Her saga Is a testament to the incredible heights that can be traversed through determination, hard work, perseverance, dedication, and relentless pursuit of excellence. She remains a source of inspiration for aspiring athletes in every part of the world. in tapping or channelising their inner energy. A role model for middle aged athletes in endeavours to achieve physical milestones., proving that age is no limit.
Hailing originally from Nalgonda, Queeni has lived in Amangal, Mahbubnagar, and now resides near Kachiguda in Hyderabad. Despite her stupendous achievements, she faced daunting hurdles, especially when trying to secure sponsorships.
People would say, ‘What will you swim at this age?’ I had to spend my mornings convincing sponsors, missing practice sessions in the process.” Eventually, support came from individuals and organisations like Jothi Raj, S. Akbar, Aspire Enterprises, Dreamaxiz Software Pvt Ltd, Packers and Movers, and the Hyderabad police. “Age is just a number. If 92-year-olds can break records, why can’t I at 44,” she asked.
Swimming the English Channel
On 25th June, on Wednesday, Queenie was part in a relay swim from England to France which had a team of eight. She covered a distance of 71 km amid water temperatures between 12 and 14 degrees. The team took 60 hours fifty minuets., They began the journey at around 11 pm. She dipped into the water was in the early hours as the dawn was breaking, with water freezing and the sun earing the sky.
During her journey her body was shivering due to cold and tiredness. but jelly fishes coming and kissing her elevated her spirits and boosted her energy. The tides were high, water was chilling. After entering the water, she took around three minutes to adapt herself.
“It was challenging, swimming in these cold waters. We got here ten days in advance to get used to the conditions. I did this to inspire other women. We swam in Rameswaram, Udaipur and Goa open waters before this.”
Earlier, Queeni participated Turkey Masters International Invitational meet in 2019, Cario World Underwater Finswimming Championship in June 2023 and Serbia Open Water Finswimming Championship in September 2023. She was the first south Indian to compete at the Underwater Master Fin Swimming World Championship, where she won two silver medals.
She attributed credit for her achievement to her coach Dinesh Rajori, her husband Anil Kumar and kids Elizabeth Queen and Stephen Kumar, who helped her during my training.
Mother-son duo create landmark swimming from Mandwa to Gateway of India
On January 19th, Queeni Victoria Gandam, with her 20-year-old son Stephen Kumar, became the first Indian mother-son duo to complete a 17-kilometre open water swim from Mandwa Jetty to the Gateway of India in Mumbai .. They swam from 7.36 am to 2.37 pm, heroically combating currents and fatigue, and achieved what they first thought was a mere walk in the park. Their objective was to escalate awareness about saving the ocean, and only later the officials later informed them about their breaking a record.
Stephen, a national swimming champion, has been her staunchest supporter and teammate. It was heart touching to witness son and mother operating in such harmony, synthesizing into a perfect team. “Doing this as a mother-son team teaches you so much about each other. It creates a bond that is hard to describe,” she says. It revived memories of when I was making a solo swim of the English Channel in 1988 with my bother tugging me on in the guideboat.
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Their next goal is to swim from Robben Island in South Africa this April, a challenge they are already preparing for.
Queenie now aspires to swim the seven Seas. of the world., expressing high self-confidence. What a spectacle it would be if she could resurrect her energy to scale those heights teaming with her very own son !
Harsh Thakor is freelance journalist who swam the English Channel,Lake Zurich as well a s Dharamtar to Gateway of India.in 1988.
