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Aarti Saha : part 4
The English Channel is the water-body that separates Southern England from Northern France and links the southern part of the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. It is also known as the “Mount Everest of Swimming” because of length of the crossing, cold temperatures and the dangers of the journey. After getting inspired by a bundle of men and women who have swam across the Channel, Arati Saha decided to join the league as well.
The Channel being famous for its challenging route, attracted a lot of participants all around the world before Saha took her dive. Since, this milestone was highly male dominant, her decision to cross the Channel opened a lot of new avenues for women swimmers of the future. Arati’s preparation began for long-distance swimming championships when she used to go for competitions in the Ganges. She later got inspired by Brojen Das and Mihir Sen’s accomplishments to try for the Channel. Brojen Das, being the first Asian to swim across theChannel, not only once, but six times, proposed Arati’s name to the organizers for the succeeding year’s event. Then it was Mihir Sen, who accomplished crossing the Channel in the fourth fastest time and the only man to swam the oceans of the five continents in one calendar year (1966), to have further encouraged her and helped her in pursuing this challenge. Her willingness and determination to achieve something so high, made a lot of people become a part of this too by supporting her. Sen, along with Dr. Arun Gupta, the assistant executive secretary of Hatkhola Swimming Club, Kolkata, and various other people, initiated extensive fund-raising events for Arati to ensure her participation in England for the next year. After not being able to manage enough funds, Arati’s supporters took help from the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, and the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. They finally managed to get them on board and helpedArati by arranging the logistics for the trip.
SHE WAS AWARDED THE PADMA SHRI IN 1960 FOR HER COMMENDABLE ACHIEVEMENT. IN 1999, THE DEPARTMENT OF POSTS CELEBRATED HER CONQUEST BY BRINGING OUT A POSTAGE STAMP OF ₹3 DENOMINATION.
Soon her training begun where she used to swim for long hours. On one such fine day, Arati swam continuously for 8 hours in front of some eminent swimmers and thousands of her supporters at a pond in Deshbandhu Park. Later, she was also able to touch the 16 hour mark where she sprinted the last 70 metres and showed almost no signs of fatigue. After rigorous training, her journey to conquer the English Channel finally got a kickstart on July 24th, 1959, the day when she left for England along with her manager Dr. Arun Gupta. Under the mentorship of Dr. Bimal Chandra, who was also participating at the 1959 ButlinInternational Cross Channel Swimming Race, Arati started her final practice for the English Channel.
The competition witnessed a total of 58 participants including only 5 women from 23 countries. She being the only Asian woman to participate in such a vast competition, everyone had huge expectations from her. The race was scheduled on 27 August 1959 at 1 AM local time from Cape Gris Nez, France to Sandgate, England. Her first attempt at crossing the channel failed. Her pilot boat didn’t arrive on time, thus, she had to start the race 40 minutes later than the other participants. 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. But later, she had to quit because of the pressure.After nearly escaping all the hurdles and still being undeterred, she decided to go for a second attempt. In spite of the failure, she started to prepare for her second journey across the Channel soon after. Even when her manager Dr. Arun Gupta fell ill, it didn’t deter her from continuing her practice. Around a month later, on 29 September 1959, she made her second attempt. Starting from Cape Gris Nez, France, she swam for 16 hours and 20 minutes, battling tough waves and covered 42 miles to reach Sandgate, England. On reaching the coast of England, she continued the stride of making India beam with pride by hoisting the Indian flag.
Her achievement was applauded by whole India including a lot of eminent personalities like Vijaylakshmi Pandit, Jawaharlal Nehru, and many more. On 30 September, the All India Radio announced the achievement of Arati Saha.
The Channel being famous for its challenging route, attracted a lot of participants all around the world before Saha took her dive. Since, this milestone was highly male dominant, her decision to cross the Channel opened a lot of new avenues for women swimmers of the future. Arati’s preparation began for long-distance swimming championships when she used to go for competitions in the Ganges. She later got inspired by Brojen Das and Mihir Sen’s accomplishments to try for the Channel. Brojen Das, being the first Asian to swim across theChannel, not only once, but six times, proposed Arati’s name to the organizers for the succeeding year’s event. Then it was Mihir Sen, who accomplished crossing the Channel in the fourth fastest time and the only man to swam the oceans of the five continents in one calendar year (1966), to have further encouraged her and helped her in pursuing this challenge. Her willingness and determination to achieve something so high, made a lot of people become a part of this too by supporting her. Sen, along with Dr. Arun Gupta, the assistant executive secretary of Hatkhola Swimming Club, Kolkata, and various other people, initiated extensive fund-raising events for Arati to ensure her participation in England for the next year. After not being able to manage enough funds, Arati’s supporters took help from the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, and the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. They finally managed to get them on board and helpedArati by arranging the logistics for the trip.
SHE WAS AWARDED THE PADMA SHRI IN 1960 FOR HER COMMENDABLE ACHIEVEMENT. IN 1999, THE DEPARTMENT OF POSTS CELEBRATED HER CONQUEST BY BRINGING OUT A POSTAGE STAMP OF ₹3 DENOMINATION.
Soon her training begun where she used to swim for long hours. On one such fine day, Arati swam continuously for 8 hours in front of some eminent swimmers and thousands of her supporters at a pond in Deshbandhu Park. Later, she was also able to touch the 16 hour mark where she sprinted the last 70 metres and showed almost no signs of fatigue. After rigorous training, her journey to conquer the English Channel finally got a kickstart on July 24th, 1959, the day when she left for England along with her manager Dr. Arun Gupta. Under the mentorship of Dr. Bimal Chandra, who was also participating at the 1959 ButlinInternational Cross Channel Swimming Race, Arati started her final practice for the English Channel.
The competition witnessed a total of 58 participants including only 5 women from 23 countries. She being the only Asian woman to participate in such a vast competition, everyone had huge expectations from her. The race was scheduled on 27 August 1959 at 1 AM local time from Cape Gris Nez, France to Sandgate, England. Her first attempt at crossing the channel failed. Her pilot boat didn’t arrive on time, thus, she had to start the race 40 minutes later than the other participants. 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. But later, she had to quit because of the pressure.After nearly escaping all the hurdles and still being undeterred, she decided to go for a second attempt. In spite of the failure, she started to prepare for her second journey across the Channel soon after. Even when her manager Dr. Arun Gupta fell ill, it didn’t deter her from continuing her practice. Around a month later, on 29 September 1959, she made her second attempt. Starting from Cape Gris Nez, France, she swam for 16 hours and 20 minutes, battling tough waves and covered 42 miles to reach Sandgate, England. On reaching the coast of England, she continued the stride of making India beam with pride by hoisting the Indian flag.
Her achievement was applauded by whole India including a lot of eminent personalities like Vijaylakshmi Pandit, Jawaharlal Nehru, and many more. On 30 September, the All India Radio announced the achievement of Arati Saha.
