VASCO: Five swimmers led by Wing Commander Paramvir Singh broke the world record while completing 548 kms of a 1000-km swim in open water from Mumbai to Mangalore, recently.
The five swimmers swam from Mumbai to Mangalore as a tribute to victims and martyrs of the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai.
Wing Commander Paramvir Singh speaking to the Herald said, “It has been very challenging dealing with the millions of small jelly fish and the extremely large ones that attach themselves to your body and sting you. The choppy waters in the night make it tough but our boys are very motivated and we have trained. It is about keeping the mind strong and thinking of the destination, our goal. This is for those who were killed by terrorists.”
The swimmers left Mumbai on Nov 26 and expect to touch the shores of Mangalore on December 9. Each swimmer will swim for an hour and this expedition was the idea of Singh who felt it was important for India to do something and create a record because as he put it almost every record that needed to be broken had been done.
He said, “I wanted us Indians to have something that was unique and was a world record. We will be breaking the existing world record by going almost double what was done earlier. This is also an attempt to popularize open water swimming which had not gained popularity despite India having such a vast coastline.”
The Sea Hawks is an Open Water Endurance Swim team from India, including swimmers with tremendous experience and achievements in the open water relays. The team has successfully crossed several channels within the Arabian Sea as well as the English Channel, and has numerous records to its credit.
Their landmark swim from Goa to Mumbai, covering 433.11 kilometres in 119.59 hours, broke Israel’s World Record. The team successfully completed the World’s Most Challenging Triathlon, the 635 kms.
