Monday, March 23, 2009

A Young Achiever

Eighteen months after swimming across the 30-km Messinikos Gulf in Greece at the tender age of eight, a schoolgirl from the Mumbai city, Swapnali Yadav has earned an entry in the Limca Book of Records. Swapnali's entry in the 2008-09 edition of the book has been accepted and she has received a certificate to this effect from its publishers. On September 1, 2007, Swapnali, now studying in standard V in Andheri, became the youngest-ever in open marathon swimming history to achieve the feat.

Later the world swimming body, FINA decided not to allow swimmers below the age of 17 to attempt the Messinikos Gulf Swim. After the decision of FINA, it ensured that she will be the youngest ever swimmer to do the feat in 11 hours, ten minutes. With the swimming Federation of India also following suit in disallowing children below 14 to take part in long distance swimming, Swapnali has turned her attention to competitive events in pools. She trains daily in the morning and evening at Andheri and Goregaon and her pet events are 200m breast stroke and butterfly.

0 comments:

Post a Comment