Similar to the program's
format in 2012, swimming featured a total of 34 events (17 each for men and
women), including two 10 km open-water marathons at Rio Olympics – it was one
of the main attractions of the games.
The English Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France and links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busiest shipping area in the world. It is about 560 km (350 mi) long and varies in width from 240 km (150 mi) at its widest to 34 km (21 mi) in the Strait of Dover. Crossing this channel has been a challenge ! In 1816, the French paddle steamer Élise (ex Scottish-built Margery or Margory) was the first steamer to cross the Channel.
After a seaman had floated
across the Channel on a bundle of straw, Matthew Webb made the crossing without
the aid of artificial buoyancy. His first attempt ended in failure, but on 25
August 1875, he started from Admiralty Pier in Dover and made the crossing in
21 hours and 45 minutes, despite challenging tides (which delayed him for 5 hours)
and a jellyfish sting. 80 failed attempts were made by a variety of people
before Thomas William Burgess, who on 6 Sept 1911 became the second person to
successfully make the crossing .. .. and years later an Indian woman crossed
the channel becoming the first Asian woman to cross the channel.
Google, today is celebrating Arati Saha, a groundbreaking
Indian long distance swimmer and Olympian, on what would have been her 80th
birthday. Today’s Google doodle is dedicated to
swimmer Arati Saha , who has many firsts to her name, was the first woman to be
awarded the Padma Shri in 1960. Saha was
born on Sept 24, 1940 in Calcutta. She learned to swim on the banks of the
Hooghly river. She later trained under Sachin Nag, one of India’s best
competitive swimmers. At the age of five, Saha had won her first gold medal. By
11, she had broken several swimming records. At 12, Saha joined India’s first
team to participate in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. She was
one of the only four women to make the team.
On 29 September 1959 she
became the first Asian woman to cross the English Channel, swimming 42 miles
from Cape Gris Nez, France to Sandgate, England. She told interviewers later in
her life that she was inspired by Indian swimmer Mihir Sen. Saha earned
multiple honors in her early career, including setting an all-India record in
1949 and breaking Dolly Nazir's all-India record in a 1951 West Bengal state
meet. Nazir and Saha would represent India together at the 1952 Olympics, and
was one of the four women participants.
After the Olympics, Saha
focused on practicing the breaststroke, consistently her best category. She
also started participating in a long-distance swim competition in the Ganges.
She reached out to congratulate Bangladeshi swimmer Brojen Das when he became
the first Asian swimmer to cross the English Channel in 1952. He went on to
recommend Arati Saha to the Butlin International Cross Channel Swimming Race
organizers for the 1953 event. Arati
Saha’s training regime was more than rigorous. At one point, she swam for eight
straight hours at the pond in Deshbandhu Park, and then went on to double her
time. After six years of training, Saha traveled to England in July 1959.
A total of 58 participants
including 5 women from 23 countries took part in the competition. The race was
scheduled on 27 Aug 1959 at 1 am local time from Cape Gris Nez, France to
Sandgate, England. However, the pilot boat of Arati Saha did not arrive in
time. She had to start late by 40 minutes and lost the favourable condition. By
11 am, she had swum more than 40 miles and came within 5 miles of the England
coast. At that point she faced a strong current from the opposite direction. As
a result, by 4 pm, she could only swim about two more miles. While she was
still determined to carry on, she had to quit under pressure from her pilot.
On 29 Sept 1959 Arati Saha
made her second attempt at crossing the English Channel. She was for an
astonishing 16 hours and 20 minutes, covering 42 miles. When she reached the
English shores, Saha hoisted the flag of India. After her historic victory, she
married her longtime manager Dr. Arun Gupta in 1959. The next year she was
awarded Padma Shri, one of India’s highest civilian honors, in 1960. The
Department of Posts created a postage stamp in her honor in 1999. She
passed away on 4 August 1994.
She represented India at
the 1952 Summer Olympics along with compatriot Dolly Nazir. She was one of the
four women participants and the youngest member of the Indian contingent. At
the Olympics, she took part in 200 metres breast stroke event. At the heats she
clocked 3 minutes 40.8 seconds. After returning from the Olympics, she lost in
100 metres freestyle to her sister Bharati Saha. After the loss, she
concentrated only on breast stroke.
Lilly King, American
swimmer, currently represents the Cali Condors which is part of the
International Swimming League. At the 2016 Summer Olympics she won the gold
medal in the 100 meter breaststroke competition and also won a gold medal in
the women's 4 × 100 m medley relay, in which she swam the breaststroke leg. She
is the current world record holder in 100-metre and 50-metre breaststroke (long
course).
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
24.09.2020.
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