Team Herald
sports@herald-goa.com
RAIA: Goa-based swimmer Arunima Bose has successfully swum across the 34km English Channel as a participant of a 5-member relay team, recently.
The “SwimLife Arrows” team from India, comprising Avinash Thadani, Kiran Rajagopal, Madhur Gopal and Yajna Somayaji, swam from Shakespeare Beach in Dover, England, to Cap-Gris-Nez, France, in a time of 15:58 hours.
The English Channel is part of the Seven Oceans Challenge. This year was special, as this was the 125th anniversary of Captain Matthew Webb, the first person to swim across the Channel.
Arunima, a Panjim-based Expressive Art Therapist is also the lead coach at the Goa Open Water Swimming Club (GOWSC) which focuses on introducing swimmers across India to the joys of open water swimming.
“I have been swimming since I was a child, but being in Goa motivated me to explore sea swimming, building my curiosity for open water challenges,” Arunima said.
According to Arunima, the physical aspect of swim training and gym workouts were much easier than the ice bath immersions that helped her acclimatise for the cold swim.
“I strengthened my mind and mental make-up through meditation and visualisation practices,” she said.